Disambiguation
by o0One.Sky.One.Destiny0o
Summary: Not good with summaries. The life of a man in the mob is very different. Life is hard on the streets especially without friends. A story with the Knockaround Guys with another fresh face you wouldn’t have expected.
1. Prologue 16 Years Ago

Not good with summaries. The life of a man in the mob is very different. Life is hard on the streets especially without friends. A story with the Knockaround Guys with another fresh face you wouldn't have expected.

* * *

**Prologue - 16 Years Ago...**

"Ow!" The little boy cried, rubbing his arm gingerly. "Your such a jerk." He grumbled a little pathetically.

"Don't be such a wuss!"

The summer heat was sweltering in Manhattan. Temperatures and emotions were rising high in the blistering heat and it was easy to see why these five kids were bickering in an alleyway playing basketball.

"That was a foul!" Little Johnny said indignantly. The boy had dark brown hair and glittering blue eyes. He had very pale skin covered in patches of freckles. He was known to be a little bit of a baby at times, since he was the smallest in the group, but he was rather tough compared to most.

"No it was not!" Matty replied. This boy was tall and lanky with an angular face, dark hair, pale skin, and deep green eyes. You could tell by the way the group responded to him speaking: he was obviously the leader of this little gang of misfits.

"Yeahuh!" Johnny spat.

"Well why don't we jump for it?" Chris chimed in. He was already an Italian heart breaker with lots of charm, olive skin, dark hair, dark eyes and a wicked smiled.

"Always the peace maker. Looked like a foul to me." Taylor laughed.

"Shut up oaf!" Chris growled.

"I'm not jumping for it!" The girl finally yelled, "It wasn't a foul! I stuffed his shot fair and square!" She stomped her foot and swatted the long curly tendrils of blonde hair out of her face. Her name was Maggie and how she fit in with this group of twelve year olds no one could really understand. Aside from Matty and Taylor, she basically ran the group. She was smaller, about the size of Johnny, about a head shorter than Chris and Matty, about a year younger than all of them, and she could probably fit in Taylor's pocket. Her waist length blonde hair was tied up tightly into a messy bun. Her Face was smudged with sweat and dirt from the asphalt and her tank top already bore some black scuffmarks from the old basketball. "Matty saw it and he says it wasn't a foul!" Her hazel eyes glittered angrily.

"Well me and Taylor say it is!" Johnny growled, nose to nose with the pretty little girl.

"Look guys this is dumb, lets just jump for it!" Chris said, trying to pull the two smallest members of their group apart.

"No! It was a foul!" Johnny said.

"Was not!" Maggie growled.

Taylor rolled his eyes, "This is why I hate playing with girls." He sighed. His intention was to diss Johnny for being such a baby and to poke fun at Maggie for being so upset about it. He instantly realized his mistake when Maggie trained her vicious glare to him.

"What was that, monster?" She growled, her little hands perched on her hips.

Taylor was the biggest twelve-year-old anyone in New York had ever seen. He was already stronger and tougher than any of the kids (plus their older brothers) on his block. He had a reputation to maintain, and though Maggie was his best friend - other than Matty - he wasn't about to back down from a girl. "I said _this_ is why I _hate_ playing with _girls_." He stepped forward, towering over the little blonde.

She stared up at him defiantly, squinting her eyes and glaring at him, her lips set into a thin line. She took a few steps and poked her tiny finger into his chest, "Excuse you Taylor James Reese, you better watch your big dumb mouth!" That was when Matty took a step back, pulling the wide-eyed, gape mouthed, Chris and Johnny with him. _No one_ insulted Maggie Henessey and got away with it and _no one_ insulted Taylor Reese and kept their teeth.

"What did you say to me little girl?" He growled.

She took another step towards him, her thin little eleven-year-old body being overshadowed by his. "You heard me, moose." The corner of her lip hitched slightly. She knew that Taylor hated being called moose by anyone. He was sensitive about his large nose, something he never told anyone except Maggie - not even Matty.

"You're lucky you're a girl Maggie. Cause my mom taught me not to hit stupid whiney bratty little bit-,"

Maggie punched him right in the nose before he could finish the sentence. There were two sickening cracks that echoed in the enclosed alley. Taylor crumbled, whining a bit and holding his broken nose, while Maggie stood there, shaking with fury, her middle finger of her right hand dislocated from the socket.

"Don't you _EVER_ call me that Taylor!" She screamed, you could hear her voice tremble, but no one knew if it was from fury or pain. "If you don't show me some respect, I swear to god I'll bust your damn head wide open!" She turned on her heel and ran out of the alley leaving three boys in a huddle and one leaning against the alley wall with his head bent back and blood streaming down his face.

"Good one oaf." Matty smiled. Johnny and Chris snorted softly and walked over to their friend.

"We better get you home." Chris smiled and ducked under one of Taylor's arms. "You're bleeding all over everything."

"Yeah, we'll tell your mom you got in a fight with some gang bangers who were trying to beat me up." Johnny smiled, pulling some tissue from his pocket and stuffing it up Taylor's nose.

"Two of them." Taylor said weakly as the guys helped him steady himself.

"Yeah, big ones." Matty laughed and helped Taylor navigate his way home.

A few hours later, Maggie had her finger popped back into place by her father and she took a long hot shower to get all the grime off of her body. She was sitting in her bedroom, wearing her father's old Notre Dame Basketball t-shirt and a pair of running shorts, sniffling softly and using the hem of the t-shirt to wipe away the tears on her cheeks.

When she came home crying on this particular Sunday afternoon, her father welcomed her home and fixed up her hand. The only thing wrong was that her finger was dislocated, her knuckles had started bruising, and her heart was broken. He popped it back in, gave her some children's Tylenol and sent her off to take a shower.

Most days she was thankful that her father never really asked questions. He also never minded that his eleven year old daughter's best friends were Matty Demaret, the notorious Benny Chains' only son, and Taylor Reese, who was a rather nefarious fighter for a twelve-year-old, who lived with his mother a few apartment buildings away. He had a restaurant co-owned by Chris Scarpa's father that was in the middle of the city, only a few minutes away. He worked almost all the time, everyday - and that's how Maggie came to know Taylor Reese since she was born, because Taylor's mother took care of Maggie almost all the time, everyday.

She loved her father very much and he tried very hard to be a big part of her life, but when Maggie's mother had died only three years after she was born he was left to bring up a daughter all by himself. He was a tall, dark Italian-Irish mix with dark hair and dark eyes and only if you saw a picture of Maggie's mother would you know where she got her looks. He worked hard to support them, provide a roof over her head, food on the table, and clothes on her back. He also managed to pay Mrs. Reese a bit of money a week as thanks for watching his only little girl.

Maggie knew that he loved her and that he worked so hard so that she could have a good, healthy life but it was hard to not have a mother. Especially right now. And especially since the only woman she would have talked to if she had the chance was the mother of her problem.

The problem was that Taylor and Matty were her best friends. They were all that she had in this world aside from her father. She tried, once, to hang out with girls at school but she couldn't stand their constant chatter about how _cute_ someone was or the newest _fashions._ She was only eleven and she didn't care about boys or clothes. Most days she wandered around school with Taylor, Matty, Chris, and Scarpa wearing ratty old jeans, an old t-shirt, and a baseball cap talking about cars or sports. She didn't fit in with anyone else, but then again, neither did they. She sniffled again and cursed Taylor Reese silently. Then there was a knock on her door.

She jumped a little and wiped her nose across the neck of her t-shirt. She hopped off of her bed and opened her door. She looked up into the brown eyes of her father who was smiling down at her.

"You have a visitor." He said and stepped to the side.

Behind him stood Taylor Reese, his arms crossed behind his back and the toe of his sneaker scuffing along the wood floor. He looked perfectly normal except for the two very dark black eyes with a band-aid over his nose.

"I'll leave you two to talk." Her father said. He smiled and walked away leaving the two facing off.

"Can I come in?" Taylor said without looking up.

Maggie glared at his downcast forehead and turned on her heel. She jumped onto the bed and crawled into the corner where it was pushed up against the wall. She folded her legs, Indian-style, and wrapped her arms around the pillow. She perched her head on top of the pillow and stared at her feet.

They had a common ritual every time Taylor came over. She'd scrunch up in the corner of her small twin bed and he'd sprawl across it, taking up all the room. This time, he slowly climbed up on the opposite edge and sat there, staring down at his lap.

She cleared her throat to tell him to start talking or she'd kick him out, but then he launched himself at her. For a moment she feared for her life, she knew that if Taylor was really pissed off he could definitely do some damage and she was thinking about taking another swing at him. She may not be able to stop him, but maybe smacking his nose again would slow him down. But then she realized that his arms had wrapped around her small little body and pulled it to his gangly one. He was shaking a little bit, and for a second, Maggie thought he might be crying.

And then he started speaking, rapid-fire, "Maggie I'm really really sorry. I never meant to call you a... bad word. I was stupid and I wasn't thinking and I deserved to get punched in the face about a hundred times for what I almost said. I'm really really really sorry and I'll be your personal slave forever if you promise not to be mad at me." His face was buried in her damp strawberry scented hair.

For a moment she was speechless. Taylor usually only had two emotions: fury and apathy. This show of affection was something she was not used to seeing from him - if anyone. She unfroze and wrapped her small arms around him.

"Don't worry Taylor. I'll always love you." She said into his shoulder.

"I love you too." He smiled and hugged her tighter, "You're my best friend and like my little sister."

Maggie nodded into his chest and sighed. If only she meant it like that too.


	2. Chapter 1

**-1- Present day**

A groan came from the corner as Taylor slipped his leather jacket over his black sweatshirt. It was colder outside, the year was coming along towards September and the air was chillier. Soon the leaves would be turning a mixture of yellows, reds, and oranges and the wind would whip them off the trees and pile them in the streets. Fall was gorgeous in New York City and it was nice getting to bundle up and walk the streets, watching all the people.

_At least it's nice walking the streets during the day._ Taylor smiled. _Otherwise you run into people like us._ He stepped out into the street and lit up a cigarette. He was on his first inhale when he noticed that his knuckle had split open and was bleeding.

"Shit," he grumbled and pulled out a handkerchief. He wrapped it wound his fist and tied it off and kept smoking. It was cold out tonight. People had themselves wrapped in about three layers and they were walking at a slant, hoping to keep the chilly breeze from hitting their faces. He chuckled a little bit and looked back into the doorway. Matty was still kneeling over the guy they just handled. He was whispering softly, no doubt telling the guy to get his payment to Matty yesterday.

Taylor just rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. Matty walked out a few moments later and Taylor flicked his cigarette into the open window of the small warehouse and the room exploded into flames.

"I don't know if he's getting up boss." Taylor smiled.

Matty turned to him and opened the door, he shrugged, "Then at least we'll collect on insurance for the building."

Taylor rose an eyebrow, "You own the building?"

Matty nodded as Taylor opened the car door and Matty slid in. Taylor followed and Matty continued, "Signed it over to me as collateral if he couldn't make the payment."

Taylor smiled and pulled the door shut. He looked around the interior of the town car and smiled at Marbles who was wiping his hands on his pants. "You'll never stop smelling like gasoline Johnny." Taylor said.

Marbles looked up and smiled, "Its not gasoline. Its some sort of fucking gunk that was on that guy's floor. It smells rank."

Chris's nose wrinkled, "Open up the windows a crack, I wanna smoke anyways. He pulled out an expensive cigarette brand and handed a few out to the guys. He extended one to Marbles and then paused, "You wont burst into flames, will you?"

Marbles grabbed at the cigarette, "What do you think I am? Some sort of idiot?" He looked around at all the men in the car and they gave him speculative looks as they lit up their smokes. "Fine, don't answer that." He growled.

"Where we going?" Taylor asked, Chris and Marbles directed their attention to Matty.

"Back to Scarpa's. I want some fucking food." Matty said.

"Sounds good." Chris smiled and took a long inhale on his cigarette.

When they reached Scarpa's restaurant the lights were still blazing, but they knew that only Mario Scarpa and his cooks were inside. They were probably shooting the shit, smoking cigars, drinking wine and playing some poker before making their way home. When the boys walked in, they were greeted by a few muffled grunts and a wave from Mario.

They all smiled and waved back, making their way into the back booth which was reserved especially for them. Someone quickly brought over wine and breadsticks before the boys were even finished taking off their jackets. They all sat down and took a glass of wine each. Taylor liked wine well enough, but not as much as a nice cold beer. He sighed and pulled out his pack of cigarettes placing in on the table along with his cell phone. One of the cooks came over and asked what the boys wanted.

"Surprise us." Matty smiled, "Make a lot of it, though. This one," He pointed to Taylor, "Can eat a whole horse and still have room for more." Taylor just smiled. The cook laughed and turned back to the kitchen.

"So what are you gonna do for your birthday Scarpa?" Marbles asked taking a sip of wine.

Beer materialized in front of Taylor and he took a long drink, "Its not till fuckin' November."

Matty just smiled, "Yeah but you know this guy. He has to have a fuckin extravaganza for every party he throws. He's been planning it since July."

Chris shrugged coyly, "I mean we're in New York. Gotta keep it classy." He smiled.

Marbles chuckled, Matty laughed and Taylor just shook his head. "Keepin' it real, right?" Marbles added.

"That's right." Chris responded.

"You gonna have those live dancers again like last time?" Marbles asked.

"Maybe." Chris said vaguely, "Maybe not."

"What kind of food?" Marbles said nonchalantly. Everyone sort of stared at him like he was stupid. "You never know." He shrugged, "You could do like a sushi bar or like a fuckin' barbeque. Its not like you have to eat Italian morning, noon, and night." He rolled his eyes.

"Well anyways," Matty smiled, "Benny is having a grand opening for one of his new Hotels downtown. Its gonna be some sort of pool shin-dig and he wants all of us to be there and represent the family."

"Pool party?" Taylor grimaced.

"Well, swimming for beautiful half naked models only."

"Half naked models?" Chris perked up at that.

"It's starting to get cold." Taylor commented.

"Indoor pool and game room." Matty rolled his eyes. "If my dad could get any flashier he'd be fuckin' Liberace."

"Retirement does have some advantages." Taylor smiled. "How old's his new wife again?"

"Younger than us." Chris said.

"Even younger than Maggie?" Marbles chimed in.

"Yeah. I think she's much younger than Maggie." Matty said shaking his head disdainfully.

"Well if I can get it up at your dad's age, I'd do the same." Chris smiled and tipped his glass back. Taylor just laughed and tipped his back too.

"You should call her," Marbles said, "I haven't seen her in ages."

"She's probably busy." Taylor grumbled.

Matty chuckled softly, "Well if you wont call her, I will." He smiled pulling out his phone. Taylor gave him sideways glance that Matty could tell meant _no way asshole._

"Yeah me too!" Marbles said.

"Phones already ringing." Scarpa smiled, with his iPhone to his ear. The rest of the men scrambled for their phones and plugged in her number as fast as they possibly could.

* * *

Maggie rolled over slowly and opened her eyes. She looked at the clock next to her. In about three minutes her alarm would turn on, so she reached over and switched it off. She sat up and looked over at the figure next to her and smiled. The guy was cute, she'd admit that, but he left a lot to be imagined on the conversation side. He was lying on his stomach and sleeping peacefully, his spiky hair was a bit disheveled from the evening's activities. She brushed her hand through it and tugged a little. He groaned and she laughed.

"Wake up sleepy head, I have to get ready for work." She smiled.

"Already?" He grumbled sleepily. "It felt like we just went to sleep."

She laughed, "Basically. But I'm gonna go shower and if you aren't up and ready to get out I'm gonna pour water on your head."

He shifted, "You wouldn't risk ruining your bed."

"I'd just drag you out by your feet first." She hopped out of bed and walked into her bathroom. She flipped on the light, closed the door and started the shower. She looked at herself in the mirror and dragged her fingers through her tangled curls. She brushed her teeth and then hopped into the shower.

She came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, her damp hair hanging to her waist and already starting to form loose waves. She looked at the bed and the man in it was sitting up, rubbing his eyes. She sighed rolling her eyes heavenward and switched on the light to the room. It was instantly bright and the man groaned.

"Let's go big boy." She smiled, walking over to her closet and pulling out some fresh clothes for the day. She heard him stand up off the bed and rustle around on the ground for his clothes. When she looked back, he was already in the pair of khaki pants from the night before and he was sliding his arms through his button down shirt.

He walked over to her and kissed her lightly on the lips. She smiled at him kindly and patted him on the shoulder, "So this was fun." He smiled. Maggie just nodded. He trailed a few kisses along her neck and tried to pull at her towel. She had it grasped firmly in her hands. "Come on baby, call in sick."

She rolled her eyes and pushed him back softly, "Sorry Mark, but I need to get to work."

He looked slightly miffed but simply sighed and dropped his hands. His lips formed a thin line and then he spoke, his voice devoid of the passion that was there a few minutes ago, "So when will I see you again?"

Maggie smiled, "Soon maybe. If I'm not too busy." She said, "I don't want to get your hopes up or anything, but I'm not really into relationships and you know that. We've talked about it."

"I just don't like being used." He growled.

Maggie rolled her eyes, "I'm not using you. If anything we're using each other. We go out occasionally, have a good time and come back home and have more of a good time. What's not to like?"

He looked slightly hurt, "Are you dating other guys?"

She rolled her eyes, "Mark. We're not boyfriend and girlfriend. I don't get mad for you being with other girls. So please, just drop this." And she turned and went back to pulling out clothes for the day. She heard him grumble something unintelligible and clomp out of the room, slamming the front door on his way out. She rolled her eyes and remembered why she hated relationships.

She pulled out a pair of black slacks and a quarter sleeve white gossamer shirt with vines embroidered in black along the bottom hem that traveled up to an empire waist and a modest neckline. She grabbed some clean underwear and a white bra and dropped her towel. She pulled on the underwear and walked over to her bedside table and turned on her stereo that had her iPod docked. She flipped it onto her new favorite song and looked down at her cell phone.

_4 New Voicemails._

She picked up the phone took it into the bathroom with her. She took out her blow dryer and tried to dry her hair a bit more before she put on her clothes. When she was done with that, she looked into the mirror and grabbed some anti-frizz serum and dragged it through the curls. She washed off her hands and grabbed the phone and hit the _dial voicemail_ button on the screen. She turned it onto speakerphone just as the automated voice told her that the call was left today at 3:35 a.m.

"Hi ya beautiful," She smiled, recognizing the voice of Scarpa. "We were all here at my place sitting around, drinking wine and abusing ourselves thinking about you. We're wondering when you'll be in town next since we all miss your fine ass. Call me."

She laughed and started applying her make-up, the next message came on, "Hey! I've always been your favorite right?" That was Marbles. "Call me back, we have a party we need you to come to!"

"Hey Maggs." It was Matty, "My father is opening yet another wonderful Hotel this weekend. If you have any plans, cancel them and bring a swimsuit. I'm sending a car to pick you up at seven on Friday. He also wont be taking you home until Sunday, so be prepared. By the way, Taylor has been in a mood. He's all grumpy and shit since he hasn't seen you for like a month. So no refusals allowed. " She could hear the smile in his voice.

The next message was silent for a few beats, "Call me back." Was all the rumbling voice said, what he forgot to add was the _or else I'll punch the first guy you call in the face._

She laughed, deleted all the messages and finished up her makeup. She tied her hair back into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck, the sides of her hair covering her ears, but letting the dangling black pearl earrings she wore peek through. She walked over to her bed and slipped on her clothes with a pair of modest boots. She hung some simple jewelry around her neck and on her wrists and was ready for work.

She grabbed her cell phone and the headset and plugged it into her ear punching in a number as she made her way into the kitchen and popped a bagel into the toaster.

"Hello?" The voice sounded tired.

"Goooooooood Mornin!" She said brightly. She heard him groan on the line and she laughed, "Party hard big guy?"

"I'm the first one you called, right?"

"Sure." She said vaguely.

She heard him growl and then he said, "I'm going to kill Marbles."

Maggie just laughed, "Oh stop it. Of course I called you first. How's mom and dad?"

She heard him shifting around and he was talking quietly, "Mom's good. She has a job at a florist down the street from her place. Not like she needs a job, but she needs to be busy or else she'll go nuts. Dad's good. Still puttering around at Scarpa's, helping out and serving the bar most nights. The Scarpa's love the new wine by the way. It goes perfect with their manicotti - I had it last night."

"You? Wine? _Manicotti_? Ohmigod! You've become civilized and I missed it?!" She smiled. Her bagel popped out and she started slathering on butter and cream cheese. She heard him chuckle and then a door closed in the background. Judging by the background noise, she guessed he stepped outside for a smoke. "Still killing yourself slowly?"

He chuckled again and she heard him exhale, "Oh yeah? You've quit?" Accusing.

She smiled, "Never." She laughed, "Just wish you could pass me one through the phone. I'm out."

"You come this weekend and I'll buy you a carton." He smiled.

"Matty's got you beat. He is sending out a car so I don't have to drive." Maggie smiled.

"Shit." The low voice growled. "How about I take you for breakfast and shopping at Victoria's Secret on Saturday?"

She laughed, "Yeah right. You'd go underwear shopping with me?"

He paused for a second, "Maybe if you modeled a few."

"Pig." She snorted.

"Slut." He laughed.

"Oh yeah, you're one to talk." She smiled, taking a bite of her bagel, "So, what's this thing for? Am I supposed to dress up? Casual? Skirt? Jeans? Blah Blah Blah?"

She could feel his smile across the line, "Nice casual. Cute top and jeans would work. But since all of us studs are in shape, we'll be lounging by the pool mostly, oogling attractive models Benny's paid to swim around in next to nothing."

"Ha! I bet. How old is his wife? Is her sophomore class coming to tour behind the scenes at the hotel?"

It was Taylor's turn to snort, "Probably a few of her friends, yeah."

"I don't want to see you in jail Taylor Reese. Stay away from the little girls." She smiled.

"You're little, do you count?" He smiled, teasing.

"Little meaning young, douche bag." She said, cleaning up her mess in the kitchen.

"You're young....ish."

"Fucker." She growled. In the background she heard his door open.

"Tay-Tay?" A high pitch voiced sounded. Maggie felt herself frown.

"Company?" Maggie asked sweetly.

Taylor chuckled, "Yeah." You could tell he tilted his head away from the phone to speak, "Be in, in a sec. Go relax"

"Is that code for 'get naked'?"

He chuckled lightly, "Yeah, so we'll see you around 8?"

"See you tomorrow."

"Love you babe."

Despite the years that had gone by and how many times Taylor had said it, each individual time he told her that he loved her, her body responded. "Love you too Tay."

She disconnected and finished grabbing all of her stuff and made off for work.

The drive there was about an hour long but she didn't mind it at all. She actually enjoyed driving. Of course, this wasn't the jam-packed streets of New York, where it took an entire hour just to get across three streetlights. She lived about an hour outside of the city in Long Beach.

When she was in California receiving her Bachelors Degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management she got to live near the beach in San Diego. It was probably one of the greatest places she's ever visited inside the U.S. It was almost always sunny, except for the four or five days a year where it actually rained, and even then it was still pretty glorious.

She still entertained dreams of moving to California, especially because there were plenty of vineyards and hotels in California that she could run pretty easily. But mostly she just wanted to lay on beaches all day and drink margaritas until she couldn't see straight. However she did return to New York at only 21, finished with her schooling and decided to attended a Culinary Arts institute for a few years. She'd been at her current job for about two years now.

Her current job was being an assistant to the owner of the vineyard. She did random day-to-day duties like organizing files, planning meetings, and observing the production of different wines on site. She also traveled frequently to different restaurants and hotels around the nation and spoke to them about using her vineyard's wine in their bars.

She enjoyed her job. She was close enough to come home and see family but also far away enough to keep everything separate. Maggie had always been rather independent, even as a child, and she liked to be on her own. It sort of explained her view of relationships as well. She didn't want to be with someone when her heart wasn't really in it. What she liked to pretend was that rather than her heart belonging to someone else, she was simply not ready for anything serious.

But either way, she was enjoying herself. She was _determined_ to enjoy herself. She was young, she lived in New York City, she was well established, and she had her best friends, her health and her family. How could life really get any better?


	3. Chapter 2

**-2-**

"So what are you doing tonight? Am I going to see you this weekend?" The voice said over the phone.

"No." She said matter of factly. I'm going into the city to see my friends." Maggie said softly, checking her reflection in the tinted window.

"Which friends?" He asked.

"_My_ friends, Mark." Maggie grumbled.

"Will I ever meet these friends?"

Maggie was officially annoyed, "Not likely." And she hung up. She knew Mark would call back and most likely try to yell at her, so she decided she was not going to pick up his phone calls anymore. Idly, she thought that breaking up really isn't that hard to do.

She was sitting in one of Matty's many town cars. It was all black, tinted windows, and soft leather, luxuriousness. He had taken the liberty of putting in multiple bottles of _Negro Modelo_, Maggie's favorite beer, into the cooler. It was accompanied by a carton of her favorite cigarettes and a note from Taylor telling her to get started on the way since the party already started at seven.

She was sipping on her fifth beer and enjoying her wonderful cigarette when the partition between her and the driver rolled down.

"It will be about twenty more minutes, Ms. Hennessy." The driver said.

"Thanks Raul. You want a smoke?" She smiled.

"I have some here." He smiled.

"Well Taylor bought me a carton, which will last me forever, I don't mind sharing." She smiled, wiggling a box at him in he rearview mirror.

He laughed, "Ok, just don't tell Mr. Reese."

Maggie smiled and dropped the box next to him on the seat, "He's a big softie Raul. And please, call me Maggie! I've known you for half my life, we're friends."

He nodded and smiled, "Of course, Maggie."

He rolled up the partition and Maggie just smiled, enjoying the wind coming through the window on her skin. She was about to open up another beer when her cell phone rang.

"Yello?" She smiled.

"What are you? Shit canned?"

"Only half..." She said hurt, "But I'm not sure if it's the shit or the can."

"Smartass." Matty grumbled, "Where are you?"

"Raul said about twenty more minutes until I'm at the hotel. Tell me sir, do I get a suite? Because I demand three silk pillows and sparkling water on tap in all of my suites." She said haughtily.

Matty just started laughing, "If you weren't so cute I'd break your fuckin' head. But yes, my dad has a suite for all of us. Well actually it's like a giant apartment. We have a common room and then five individual beds and baths. He said he put that in there so you'd come by more often."

"Awe, what a heart breaker. Too bad he's already married." She smiled.

"Ugh. Sick." Matty grumbled.

Maggie just laughed, "Don't be jealous because I'd choose your old man over you."

"I don't get it." Matty said softly, "How does he do it? How can I, Matty Demaret, have to compete with my fifty-something-year-old dad to get laid by the _same_ women?"

Maggie just laughed, "Don't worry honey, I just want him for his body. I'll always want you for your personality."

"Just my personality?"

"Well," Maggie paused, "And your cute ass." She listened as Matty hung up, still laughing.

About seventeen seconds later her phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"Evidently Taylor wanted to talk with you. He was real upset that I hung up without handing you over." Matty grumbled.

"How upset?"

"I dunno." Matty grumbled uncomfortably, "Broken-femur-upset?"

Maggie just laughed until Taylor came on the line.

"How far are you?"

"About eleven point two-five minutes away sir." She snapped out, saluting him, even though she was alone in the car.

"You saluted me didn't you?"

"Never sir!" She did another salute.

He sighed, "If I don't hug you to death, I'll just beat you to death when I see you." Maggie laughed. "So there are a lot of women here tonight. Think you can keep up?"

"Does a bear shit in the woods?"

Taylor laughed loudly at that, "I love a woman with a true sense of competition."

"So what are we playing? Do I have to do girls again?" Maggie asked.

"Girls?" Taylor asked, sounding very confused.

"Oh shit, that wasn't with you, that was with Scarpa in Florida." She said, smacking her head.

"You were in Florida with Scarpa? When was this?" He sounded hurt.

"I don't know. You and Matty were on a business trip, Marbles was sick, so Scarpa flew down to see me in Florida." Maggie smiled.

"And what was this wager?"

"Who could sleep with the most girls in one night." She tried to stifle her giggles.

"Who the fuck won?" Taylor said, sounding incredulous.

"I don't know. We sort of lost count after the orgy."

"Orgy?!"

Maggie started laughing hysterically and heard the phone drop and some scuffling in the background. She also heard Chris yelling "Shit! Shit! Stop! What'd she tell you?! Its not true!"

Then Taylor yelled something about Florida and Scarpa was so quiet Maggie thought that she got hung up on until she heard Scarpa say, "Oh shit, Florida!" and start laughing.

Matty got back on the line, "You realize he'll kill him, don't you?"

"You guys never told him?" Maggie smiled.

"No we never told him or showed him the pictures...or the video." He started laughing.

Maggie giggled too, "Oh, those were my wild and crazy years."

"I thought it was only like eight months ago."

"Give or take a few days." She smiled.

"You're bad. You're gonna kill him one of these days." Matty said jokingly.

"So he can sleep around, but I cant?" She spat, only slightly feigning anger.

Matty sighed, "He'll figure it out."

Maggie scoffed, "Yeah, and I'm the queen of England."

"You're much prettier."

"Ha, thanks Matty."

"You're welcome. I see your car pulling up. I'll come out to get you." And he hung up.

A few moments later they parked in front of the Hotel's entrance. It was something you'd expect in Vegas, but Maggie knew that was Benny's style. It was a huge, glittering hotel in the heart of Manhattan. There were tons of limos parked in the valet area and a few desperate cameramen trying to get some pictures of the big to-do.

Maggie got out of the car and into the cold air of New York, wrapped up in shin length wool coat and a scarf. She turned and saw Matty leaning against the door in a t-shirt and swim trunks, having a cigarette. He smiled when their eyes met and flicked his cigarette away. He jogged over to her and pulled her into his arms, kissing her cheeks and squeezing her.

"Missed you Maggs." He said.

She kissed him on the cheek, "I missed you too Matty."

He let her down and pulled her inside. She removed her jacket in the comfortable interior of the hotel and was amazed by what she saw. Everything was glittery. Not that it was gaudy or sparkly, but just so fresh and crisp. It was all dark woods and upholstered in deep reds, browns and blacks. The lamps were small and warmly lighting the hotel, with mini chandeliers hanging from the ceilings. It was one of the more gorgeous hotels Maggie had ever been in and she had been in her fair share.

"Matty this is _amazing_."

"I know," He nodded, taking her jacket and handing it to a bellman. "He's been working on this for a while. I think its one of the things he will be incredibly famous for."

"Rather than infamous." She winked and he smiled.

"Alright. So I'll warn you know, most of the people in here are pretty well sloshed. My dad's plan was to get everyone liquored up so they'd spend the night in the hotel rooms instead of going home. So far I think it's working, plus he rented a few girls from an escort service who seem to take their jobs rather seriously." Matty smiled, holding Maggie's hand and guiding her to the pool and game room.

He opened large, dark wooden doors that lead to the pool and game area. The room was extremely large and one side was devoted to a casino (or rather a "gambling arcade" - since gambling was _slightly_ illegal). The other side was a very large pool with a raised bar in the center of it. It was pretty loud inside the mix of music and voices echoing in the warm room. There were a lot of people, mostly older, standing at the bars or at the gambling tables, sipping on tropical looking drinks and spending all of their money.

"You have your bathing suit?" Matty smiled pulling off his shirt and tossing it to the side.

"Course I do!" she smiled, pulling off her sundress and tossing it onto the chair with Matty's. She noticed that Matty took a few steps away from her. He just stood there, smiling like a goof.

She was about to ask him what he was doing, and that's when she heard it. She turned slightly and saw Scarpa and Marbles charging at her, full speed. They were soaking wet and probably drunk but they didn't slow down as they neared. Rather than scream, Maggie just braced herself for the impact.

She felt the boys hit her, but rather than fall on their asses into a heap, they picked her up and dragged her to the pool, jumping in with her.

When they all emerged, Maggie grabbed Scarpa and dunked him, reaching out and pinching Marbles as hard as she could. "You pieces of shit! I just _got_ these shoes! You owe me shoes, assholes!" She was growling as she wrestled with them in the water.

"Sorry!" Chris and Johnny said in unison. They all laughed and Matty jumped in behind them. He swam over and flicked Marbles in the ear while he was hugging Maggie.

"Hey asshole! Cut it out!" He snarled. He held Maggie tighter, "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too Marbles." She kissed him loudly on the cheek. "Lets get me a drinky." She laughed pulling off her shoes and tossing them towards the chairs.

Chris gave her a rather warm open mouth kiss that was halted by Matty smacking him on the arm.

"Knock it off hornball." Matty growled. Maggie just hugged Chris again and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm so happy to see you guys!" She said, wrapping her thin arms around all of them.

They all swam over to the bar in the center of the pool and took seats. The circular bar was raised about two feet out of the water. The bartender was dressed in a pair of black swim trunks and nothing else. He was an attractive blonde guy with lots of lean muscle and a great smile. Maggie winked at him and he came right over.

"I'll take four Adios Mother Fuckers, please."

"Absolutely Miss." He smiled, laying on the charm real thick and began making the drinks.

"You're not getting laid tonight unless I get laid," Marbles growled.

"Oh Johnny we'll get you some action! Don't you even worry about it!" Maggie smiled. She looked across the bar and saw a small brunette looking their direction. She actually looked like she was staring at Marbles. "Actually, you look like you are getting some action from that cute brunette."

Marbles's head whipped around and he caught her eye. He smiled at her and she winked. "Hey muscles!" Marbles yelled at the bartender, who pulled their drinks over and handed them out, "Get her another drink, on me. And let her know we'll be going over to the chairs in a few moments." He smiled.

The bar tender nodded and worked his magic.

"That's right Johnny, get her nice and drunk." Scarpa laughed. Marbles whacked him on the shoulder.

The group swam back over to the edge and climbed out of the pool. Matty had grabbed some towels for them and he tossed them to Marbles and Scarpa. He took Maggie's and laid it down on the chair for her.

"Thank you sir." She said in a faux-British accent.

"Welcome milady." He bowed back.

They all sat down and started sipping on their drinks, chatting idly about the party and passing bathing suit clad bodies.

"So where's Taylor? I thought he was _so_ excited to see me." Maggie grumbled sarcastically.

"He's around." Scarpa said, "I think he had a few blondes wrapped around his stupid leg and needed to go shake them off."

"Is that what we're calling it?" Marbles laughed, sucking up the last bit of liquid through the straw.

"Jesus." Matty said as a girl flounced by. "Her breasts were as big as my fuckin' head."

"Those weren't real right? Like that's not possible." Marbles said, staring confusedly at Maggie.

"Not on that body. Those things were bought and paid for, my friends. The girl is skinnier than I am." Maggie laughed.

"If that's possible." Matty smiled handing out a cigarette to Maggie.

She snatched it away, "Hey I've gained some weight, thank you very much. Look at my tits! They're actually a little bulgy now." She said, poking at her breasts, which were covered in a simple yellow bikini.

"I thought you might have gotten a boob job." Scarpa laughed and Maggie flicked her pineapple chunk at him.

"I noticed the booty too," Matty smiled, "In those cute little boy shorts."

"Yes, everyone applaud me," Maggie said standing and twirling, "I finally hit puberty!"

The boys cheered for her and ordered another round of Adios Mother Fuckers.

"I've bee drinking all day," Scarpa smiled a little sluggishly. "Marbles you got anything on you?"

"Uppers? Downers? X?" He smiled innocently.

"Uppers." Scarpa said, "I got my eyes on a few ladies tonight and I want to be in top form."

Maria cupped his face and kissed his cheek, "Oh Scarpa, your worst form is probably better than most of the shmucks in this room. Present company excluded of course."

"You know it." Matty smiled, sipping on his drink and watching women walk by and smile at him. "My goodness gentlemen. It looks like we have plenty of choices tonight."

"I hear Benny's got these girls staying in rooms here." Scarpa smiled, tossing back one of the pills from Marbles's jacket pocket.

"Easy access." Marbles smiled, popping one too.

"Multiple rooms." Matty smiled and looked over at Maggie who looked like she was sulking. "What's up buttercup?" He said, pinching her thigh.

"If all of you are getting laid, I'm sleeping with the bar tender. Cause this is definitely not fair." She grumbled.

"That's if you can get him past us." Matty smiled innocently.

"Honey, you wont be able to keep your pecker in your pants, I will have no problem sliding that cute blonde into my room." She smiled, blowing him a kiss.

"Brat." Matty growled.

"Tight ass." She smiled, sticking out her tongue.

Matty just laughed and then he looked up, "Well looky here boys." He whistled and nodded towards the entrance.

Taylor walked in with two women on his arms that looked very happy for being so disheveled. He smiled and waved to a few people but he immediately looked over and found Matty. Just a millisecond later, he recognized Maggie too. In a second, he had unhooked the two blondes from his arms and started jogging over to where they were sitting.

Maggie jumped out of her chair and ran over to him. She jumped up and he caught her in his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and holding her underneath her ass. He kissed her wetly on the lips and squeezed her tightly to him.

"Hi ya sweetie." She smiled and kissed him again.

He softly stroked some of the hair out of her face and smiled wide, "Hello beautiful."

"You miss me?" Maggie smiled, batting her eyelashes.

"Only every second." He smiled. He let her down and they walked back to the chairs hand in hand.

Now everyone would most likely think they're reaction to each other was strange if they were not in a relationship, but that's just how they were. Maggie and Taylor had always been openly affectionate to each other and extremely comfortable together. They were best friends since they could remember and they didn't feel like anything should change.

"So how was it Taylor?" Matty smiled, sipping his AMF.

Taylor just shrugged and caught a waitress as she passed by the string on her bikini bottom. He put a $100 down on her tray and asked her to grab drinks for the group.

Maggie lay down on her chair and relished in the feeling. They weren't the cheepo plastic ones you usually find at hotels. These chairs were large black rod iron lounging chairs with thick cushions covered in red silky terry cloth material. Maggie wanted one for her apartment so she could lie on it everyday. She was reveling in her comfyness when she was squashed to the side by Taylor's huge form.

"How much you miss me?" He smiled, hooking an arm around her neck.

She curled into him and let her fingers dance across his stomach, "Tons. I get really lonely all the way over there. I mean it's not that far, but we're all so busy, it feels like it's a huge production every time we try to get together."

He nodded, "I know, I'm getting a little sick of it. You need to move back to Manhattan."

"_I _have a respectable job, sir." She said huffily. "I have two degrees that I worked my ass off for and this job scooped me up right out of school. It pays well. I have a bitcin' apartment by the beach. I still get ass when I feel like it. So tell me again, _why_ should I move home?"

Taylor smiled, "If you move back here, I'll let you make a husband out of me. You can stay home and take care of the house and cook me dinner."

"Do I still get to sleep around?" She smiled.

His mood instantly darkened, "No."

Maggie laughed, "Well if you get to sleep around and I get to be celibate I think that's a fucking dumb idea. I have a higher libido than _you_."

Taylor just laughed, playing his fingers along the small of her back. He looked up and saw Benny walking over with a perfect little Barbie replica on his arm. "Look who's coming to say hello."

Maggie looked up and saw Benny. He looked fantastic in a pair of Khaki pants and a Tommy Bahama shirt. He had a glass of what was probably whiskey, a cigar in his hand, and his other arm around the girl.

"Maggie!" He shouted. He motioned for his wife to scamper off and she wiggled away towards the bar.

Maggie pushed herself off of Taylor and walked up to Benny, giving him a large hug and a big kiss on the cheek. "How are you old man?"

He put a hand over his heart, feigning hurt, "How could you call me that? I'm almost sixty years young."

Maggie just laughed, "Obviously," she muttered, pointing a finger in the direction of his newest toy, "So how's the hotel business?"

"Flourishing, as you can see." He wrapped an arm around her and walked her past the boys. Taylor was staring after Benny giving him a dirty look. "I have a proposition for you."

Maggie smiled, "I hope this isn't sexual. Matty would be devastated if I slept with you before him."

He pretended to smack her on the head, "The mouth on this one!" He grumbled and laughed, "No its work."

Maggie raised an eyebrow, "Not _that_ kind of work is it? I thought you retired and Matty took over."

Benny smiled, "No this is completely legitimate."

"Whoa, that's a big word." She said playfully.

Benny just put a hand to the back of her neck and squeezed it. "I'm planning on opening a few more hotels. I could use someone who knows the business and has good contacts to add to my own knowledge. I mean, I'm good with schmoozing and all that shit, but I'm a little squiffy on the day to day operations and laws that apply."

Maggie just stared at him in disbelief, "You're offering me a job? As your administrative assistant?"

"More like manager." Benny smiled.

Maggie just beamed at him. It was always her dream to go from the wineries to restaurants and hopefully hotel management some day. She just had no idea that she would actually realize that dream so quickly after college. "Seriously?" He nodded. "Well what about salary? I mean, I get paid really well at the Vineyard. I have to be able to afford rent and all that shit in the city. And I feel weird talking to you about this. You're like my Uncle. I feel like I should do it for free."

Benny just laughed, "Honey even if I was your blood uncle I still wouldn't let you do this for free. I'll pay you twenty thousand dollars more than what you're getting at the Vineyard. Plus, you can live in the hotel rent free for as long as you like or we'll find you a nice condo near here. I know one day you'll want a house and a dog and all that shit."

Maggie just smiled, "Holy shit Benny."

"You like that?" She was speechless for a moment. "So does that mean you'll take the job?

She was about to say yes but a thought entered her mind, "This doesn't have anything to do with Taylor and Matty does it?"

Benny rolled his eyes, "Even if you weren't like a daughter to me, your resume and set of skills is exactly what I'm after. You're smart, tenacious, and driven. You don't find a lot of people out there who do what they do because they love it. This has nothing to do with them. You're a fresh face in an old game who knows how to roll with the punches. You're perfect for the job."

"Jesus." Maggie said, still smiling.

"Is that a yes?"

"Jesus. Yes!" She yelled, wrapping her arms around him and trying not to jump out of her bathing suit screaming.

"Sounds good. I'll send movers to your place two weeks from Monday - when you put in your two weeks from your job." He smiled slyly, "We'll find you a condo and put you up in it. I got a few friends who owe me. You'll run _The Lautus_ and once I get another property up you can choose where you want to live."

"Jesus." Maggie said, still smiling, still shell shocked.

"I'm glad you're so excited." He said mockingly.

"I'm afraid to move lest I explode." Benny just laughed and kissed her on the cheek.

"The boys are gonna freak." He muttered as he walked away, back to find his wife.

"Jesus." Maggie smiled. She pranced back over to the boys and sat on Matty's lap. She kissed him on the cheek and took a few gulps of her AMF.

"What was that about?" Taylor asked, eying her and Matty speculatively.

"This kiss or dad?" Maggie smiled.

"Dad."

Maggie took a sip of her AMF and tried to keep her voice calm and seemingly unaffected, "He just offered me a job." She said quickly.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Say that again?"

"Yeah!?"

There was a flurry of questions so Maggie just put her hands up to stop them, "Yes, he offered me a job. I also accepted. I'll be moving back to Manhattan in two weeks time."

There was an eruption of cheers from the boys. All of them grabbed at Maggie and passed her around, kissing her and hugging her tightly. Taylor grabbed her last, pulling her into a tight bear hug, she could barely breathe.

"Taylor..." She gasped, "Please... Cant....Breathe."

Taylor released her and kissed her temple, "So does this mean you'll take me up on my offer?"

Maggie laughed, "Please." She rolled her eyes, "You couldn't stay faithfully married for five minutes. And five minutes of sex doesn't count!" She poked at him.

"Lets get us some more drinks. To celebrate." He waved over another server and asked for a bottle of Captain Morgan and five shot glasses.

About twenty minutes later half the bottle was gone. Matty had his arm around a gloriously exotic woman with curves that Maggie actually believed were natural. Scarpa had two women on his lap, nuzzling their shoulders and whispering things into their ears that made them giggle. Maggie sat with Marbles, curled up on one of the seats, drinking beers, and trash talking anyone within their sights.

Taylor was sitting with a girl who was wrapped around him and working at licking off his first layer of skin. He was eyeing Maggie and she was smiling back at him, talking out of the side of her mouth to Marbles.

"So, you wanna have sex tonight?" Marbles said.

Maggie just started laughing at him.

"Alright, I know. I had a hard time keeping my face serious on that one." Marbles laughed. He wrapped an arm around Maggie and kissed her cheek.

"Don't want to be too cute with me Marbles. I think that tiny brunette over there still wants some action from you." Maggie smiled.

"You think so?" Marbles asked, his eyes averted towards the bar where she sat with her drink in hand, bobbing her head softly to the island music playing.

"Absolutely!" Maggie said. She kissed his cheek and pushed him off the chair. She expected him to roll gracefully, but the amount of alcohol they had consumed impaired him slightly, so that he rolled off and landed face first on the floor. Maggie started cracking up as she crawled off of the chair and helped Marbles to his feel. "Jesus Marbles. You gonna be able to function tonight?"

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek, "Yes of course. I got plenty of shit to make sure I'm up to par."

Maggie just laughed and pushed him away, "Alright, go get your woman! And _please_ be careful."

"Anything for you Maggs." He smiled and winked at her as he ran towards the bar.

Maggie watched him for a moment. It was funny to see Marbles in action, because he really was rather charming and had no problem getting his share of women. He was attractive and very funny, but when men like Taylor, Chris, and Matty surrounded you, it was hard to get some of the limelight. She turned her attention back to the other boys, who were practically elbows deep in the women they were with, and rolled her eyes. She pulled off her dress again and tossed it onto the chair. She dove into the pool and swam over to the bar, sitting herself on one of the soft chairs.

"How are you doing miss? What can I get for you?" The cute bartender asked.

Maggie smiled at him and sized him up, "Fine thanks, and I'll have a 7&7."

"That's one of my favorite drinks." He said, reaching for the bottles. No one else was at the bar, so it was very easy for him to stay near here and strike up conversation.

"Imagine that." She smiled. "So you always lived in New York?"

"Born and raised." He smiled, "I got this job sort of by accident."

"Oh yeah?" Maggie said, watching his muscles as they moved under his skin, while his hands did tricks with the bottles.

"Yeah, well the owner of the hotel came into where I used to work and he said I made him the best whiskey sour he'd ever had. I also knew his wife from..." He paused, obviously not wanting to reveal the fact that she used to be headliner at a titty bar, "Where she used to work. So he asked me if I enjoyed my employment and offered me this job at basically twice my normal pay so what could I have said?" He laughed, handing her the 7&7.

"That does sound like a pretty good deal." Maggie smiled, taking a long drink. "This is pretty good. Once I finish this up, I'll take one of those whiskey sours. See if you're worth keeping." She winked.

He smiled, "Well if you want to see if I'm worth keeping, the bar may not be the best place to test my abilities."

Maggie laughed, "That's pretty cute."

"What can I say? I'd hate to be out-cuted." He winked.

"Well, I'll let you test your charms on me for the rest of the night if you can give me one thing."

"Anything." He smiled, leaning on the bar to get closer to her.

"A pack of cigarettes." She smiled.

He laughed and pulled out a pack of Maggie's favorite brand from behind the counter, opened it and took one out. He placed the cigarette in his mouth, smiling, and did this magical little flip trick with the lighter to light it up. He rolled it around in his fingers and held it out to Maggie who took it happily.

"You _are_ useful." She smiled and drained her drink. "What time are you off?"

"The boss says around four." He smiled, lighting up his own cigarette.

Maggie looked around. The boys had wandered off from the poolside, most likely with women on their arms. There was no one else in or around the pool and most people had gravitated towards the casino floor. She looked down at her watch and it was only about one a.m. She glanced back at the bartender.

"Make me one of those whiskey sours and take a few shots of something strong. You need to make sure you not inhibited tonight." She smiled. He pulled out the ingredients for a whiskey sour and started making it up. Then he poured three shots of Bacardi 151.

"You know I'm not supposed to drink on the job. And its only one a.m. I might get in trouble for this." He smiled.

"What's your name?" Maggie asked.

"Brett."

"Well Brett, I'm Maggie. Take the shots. I think you'll be ok closing down early tonight." She said sipping her drink and pushing the shots towards him.

He smiled and licked his lips, "And why's that?"

She took a long pull on her cigarette and smiled, "Don't worry. I know the owner."

* * *

That boy Brett had done wonders for Maggie. Like she assumed, the men were nowhere to be seen in their suite when she took Brett up there. They had stripped quickly and got down to business and Maggie was surprised to see that his hands were better in the bedroom than they had been at the bar.

He was a strong and passionate guy, who was a great kisser. They spent about three hours together, exploring each other's bodies and pushing their buttons. Not only were his hands great but his tongue was pretty masterful too - not to mention other parts of his body that were definitely up to par.

Maggie was in the shower now, washing away the salt from the pool water mixed in with the salt from their bodies being all over each other. They had finished and laid in bed for a while, testing and teasing each other until Maggie gracefully kicked him out. She said she had to work the next morning and that she didn't want to have to wake him up at six a.m. when they got so little sleep. He happily kissed her goodnight and she returned to take a shower.

She hopped out and dried off quickly, toweling her hair to get the dampness out. She found her suitcase ready for her when she got into the room with Brett and they had sloppily shoved it onto the floor. She straightened up the bed, which was disheveled from their fuckfest and put her suitcase up on the table. She pulled out a stretchy white tank top, which was made of the most fantastically soft material but was slightly see through and a pair of purple mini-boxers.

She pulled them on and finished up her routine in the bathroom. She was pretty sure she just fucked away all the alcohol so she walked out into the common room and pulled a beer out of the fridge. Judging by the silence, she was pretty sure the boys were not in their rooms. If they had been, she was sure she'd be hearing their activities quite clearly.

She grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the table, which were probably Scarpa's because they looked fancy, and walked out onto the balcony and sat on the ledge.

She was probably about fifteen stories up and looking out at the fantastic New York skyline. Lights glittered all over the city, either from buildings or the cars below. She smoked a few cigarettes and thought about how much her life would be changing in only the next few days. She was happy to be moving home because she would get to see the boys more often as well as her father. She wondered about how fantastic it would be to get to be back in the city. She absolutely loved it here. Her fears about making a rash decision were nullified when she realized that the city was her home and she'd never escape that.

She heard the door open from inside and then the sound of the boys rumbling in, laughing and hooting along with female giggles. She turned and saw them and brought her beer inside. Scarpa still had two ladies stumbling at his sides - two _different_ ladies - while Matty still had the exotic woman and Marbles had his brunette from before.

Maggie smiled and the girls all scattered to the different rooms to go to the powder room. She watched as all of them gave her suspicious looks. Matty approached her and sniffed at her.

"What have you been doing this whole time?"

She smiled angelically, "After a few drinks I came upstairs and took a long bath and did some reading. I was outside waiting up for you and having a beer and a smoke.

"Oh yeah?" Matty said and grabbed her by the neck and pulled her over to the sink, like an older brother would. Scarpa and Marbles followed. "What's that then?" He said, pointing to a small, mouth shaped bruise on her shoulder.

Maggie let out a laugh that she tried to hold. She turned to face Matty and smiled sweetly, "I burned myself with the curling iron?"

Marbles just started laughing hysterically, offered up his hand for a high five and went to his room. Chris laughed too, shaking his head and pulling out a bottle of champagne and a tub of fresh strawberries from the fridge. He winked at Maggie and then made his way to his room, where the two new girls were waiting.

She looked up at Matty who was trying hard not to smile, "You're such a slut." He said.

Maggie planted her feet and put her hands firmly on her hips, "Oh yeah? Whose that mega babe you've been screwing all night?"

"Who says we're screwing?" Matty said grumpily.

"_Who says we're screwing?_" Maggie said in a childish voice, mockingly, "Your hair is all tousled. Your hair is _never_ tousled." He finally broke out in a grin.

"He still here?"

Maggie shook her head, "Course not. I kicked him out when we were done."

Matty simply patted her on the shoulder, "Proud of you kid. You've definitely learned something from all of us."

Maggie just smiled, "_How to be a successful slut,_ by Matthew Demaret, Johnathan Marbles, Christopher Scarpa, _and Visual Aids_ by Taylor J. Reese." She said rather scholastically. "I'm glad I went through six years of schooling to learn that."

Matty just smiled and then kissed her forehead, "Taylor wont like this." He poked at the hickie.

"Taylor's not my fucking dad." She growled, crossing her arms.

Matty just smiled, "Breakfast?"

"Sure. You better be up for it though." She said, still slightly burned.

"I will be. Not sure about my girl in there." He smiled, looking at his door, "I gotta say though, I think I'm in love. This woman can fuck like no other."

"Plus she's fucking gorgeous." Maggie smiled and put up her hand for a high five.

He slapped it hard and then pulled her in for a hug, "You know she might be down for a threesome. Interested?" He kissed her ear.

She shoved him off and hit him hard on the shoulder, "Fuckin' pig." She laughed as he walked back to his room smiling.

"Just askin'." He winked as he closed the door.

Maggie just laughed and went back outside for her last cigarette. If Taylor didn't come home with the rest of the boys then he probably would be home the rest of the night. She finished up her cigarette, grousing about what Matty had said and how he reacted and then stomped back to her room, shutting the door. She went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth and then climbed under the covers.

She was thinking about how ridiculously awesome the sheets felt and how she failed to notice it earlier when she drifted off to sleep, a tiny smile on her face.

* * *

Maggie woke up to the sound of someone fumbling at her door. For a split second she was terrified. Her biggest fear was that someone would be able to sneak into her apartment and hurt her. Her heart was in her throat until she saw the figure outlined by the light.

"Taylor?" She said, her voice hoarse from the few hours of sleep and many hours drinking and smoking.

"Hi beautiful." He said. She watched him stumble a few steps in. He was obviously trashed. Maggie wasn't used to seeing him this intoxicated. Taylor could usually put down two handles of hard alcohol and only have a slight buzz, but tonight it was obvious he was drunk: he was stumbling around, trying to find a light switch. Maggie, bored with his display, turned on the soft light by her bed.

"What's up?"

He looked at her and smiled softly, "I'm drunk."

She smirked and sat up, "Thank you captain obvious."

"I didn't want to sleep alone tonight."

Maggie chuckled, "Something tells me it wouldn't have been hard for you to find a bed mate...Maybe its how your shirt is on inside out and your fly isn't zipped all the way up."

Taylor looked down at himself, slightly pitifully, "Sleep with, not fuck." He smiled.

Maggie rolled her eyes, "Go shower. I don't want _eau de skank_ getting all over my sheets." She watched him nod and walk into the bathroom, concentrating deeply. When he got in and shut the door, she dropped back onto the bed with a thud and exhaled deeply. "God damnit." She sighed. Even when he looked his worst, he looked amazing. She decided her hormones must still be on overdrive from her few hours with Brett. She listened to him turn on the shower and the tell tale clink of his Star of David necklace hitting the sink. She lay in bed for about ten minutes, wishing that she had something holding her down. She was trying to convince herself that she was just drunk and that Taylor didn't have feelings for her like that. She was doing some deep breathing when the shower shut off and a few moments later Taylor came out of the bathroom wearing nothing but his boxers.

She sighed again and rolled to her side. He climbed into the bed and though Maggie knew he'd have none of it, she scooted her self over to give him more room. When he went flat, she felt him shift his weight in the bed and then pull her tightly to him. He had his face in her hair, taking in deep breaths.

"You smell good." He rumbled.

"I showered." She said softly. His hands were splaying over her stomach, playing with the material of her shirt.

"I like this shirt. Its soft." He said, he kissed her shoulder. "You're soft."

"Knock if off big buy, I'm tired." She tried to keep her voice from shaking.

They were quiet for a few moments and Maggie thought he fell asleep.

"Thanks Maggs." He said, his voice vibrating down her spine and rumbling in a private area.

"For what?" She said thickly, trying not to spend too much time focusing on his heat behind her.

"For letting me shower, I feel much better now." He said softly, yawning into her shoulder. He kissed it softly and nuzzled her as close as he could possibly get her. "Love you kid."

She bit her lip to keep herself from rolling over, "Night. Love you." She reached up and turned off the light, trying to put a slight distance between them, but he just pulled her back in.

Taylor Reese, the black hole of her life.


	4. Chapter 3

Hello everyone, I'm hoping you are enjoying the story so far. I'm having a fun time writing it. They're may be a few errors, but I usually check back a day or so later when my eyes are fresh and edit/correct the story. Please let me know if you are enjoying this. I appreciate the readers. It helps me become a better writer. :D

* * *

**-3-**

There was a moment of disorientation when Maggie woke up the next morning with something heavy and hot laying across her. She opened her eyes slowly, praising God for hotel blackout curtains, looked down at the arm over her chest and looked to her side.

She was face to face with Taylor, his sweet breath caressing her face. For a second she wished she was dreaming and she could kiss him. She felt like a fool. Like a fourth grader with her first crush - it just so happened that this crush had lasted for the better part of fifteen years. She sighed lightly and rolled onto her side, trying to put more distance between her and her fantasy.

He groaned when she tried to move and held tighter. She didn't feel like putting up a fight so instead of cursing her situation, she relished in the feeling of his arms wrapped around her. He was so comfortable and reminded Maggie of feeling safe and happy, plus he was just so warm. She scooted closer to him, snuggling up against his hard body and curling herself to fit against him better. She put her arms over his and felt his hand move to intertwine his fingers with hers.

While she wriggled to get closer she heard the groan shift into more of a moaning sound and he pulled her closer, put his lips to her hair. That's when she felt something start poking her in the ass.

She couldn't help the way her body responded. She was pretty sure her heart was beating so loud it was audible and her nipples got harder and more sensitive as the bulge pressed into her ass.

"Mmmm," He rumbled in her ear.

Maggie was almost sure that she didn't have a _complete_ orgasm from the sound. But it was _close_.

"Maggie?" He said, his voice soft and smooth, she could tell he was aroused. He'd sounded like this, speaking to her only once before.

"Mhmm?" She said as smoothly as possible, trying desperately to keep her voice from shaking.

He let go of her fingers for a moment and used his free hand to sweep her blonde tresses away from her neck and shoulders. She felt his lips graze her skin and she took in a fast, deep breath. A rumbling sound came from his chest as the small kisses got a little wetter. For a moment she thought she felt his tongue just barely grace her sensitive skin.

"Taylor?" She said breathlessly.

"Maggs?" She could feel his smile on her shoulder.

She couldn't think of anything to say. The most prominent thought in her mind was _Oh God!_, but she figured saying that out loud would not help the situation. "A-are you hungry?"

"Absolutely." His voice was thick and his lips were still on her shoulder.

"Umm, Taylor?" She said quietly.

"Yes Maggie?" He rumbled, his hands sneaking up beneath her tank top and splaying across her stomach.

She couldn't _believe_ she was about to say this, "What are you doing?"

She heard him sigh, "I have my arms wrapped around a half naked absolutely beautiful woman that I love. What do you think I'm doing?"

She sighed as well. She bit her lip to keep her emotions in check, "I know you love me Taylor but...I cant go through this again." She felt incredibly defeated.

"Maggs, I -,"

There was a knock at the door and Maggie bolted out of the bed before she could let her hormones take control. She opened the door to a smiling Marbles.

"Mornin' gorgeous." Marbles smiled. Taylor growled from the bed. "Oh so _that's_ where he is! We were gonna ask you about him." He pushed his way into the room and Maggie flipped on the lights.

She followed Marbles in and he sat on the couch. She slid a glace at Taylor. He was laying in bed, face up, with his hands behind his head. She sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, smiling at Marbles and trying not to think about whatever Taylor might be thinking.

"We're gonna go to breakfast." Marbles smiled.

"Breakfast?" Maggie asked, "I thought you all wanted me to make breakfast?"

Marbles smiled, "Well we weren't sure when you'd be getting up and we didn't want to wake you after the full night we all just had." His eyes glanced at Taylor for a second.

Maggie stood up and grabbed another tank top to slip over her almost see-through one. "I'm up. I'll make it. No need to go spend extra money." She smiled weakly and then walked out into the kitchen to start preparing food.

"Fancy seeing you here." Marbles said keeping his voice low and glaring at Taylor.

Taylor didn't return the look, "Fancy that."

"She doesn't deserve this." Marbles growled.

"Deserve what?" Taylor said, his tone steely. He was losing patience.

"To be fucked around on, that's what!" He spat and jumped off the couch.

"Its not like we're married." Taylor growled, "We aren't even in a fucking relationship, she's my friend."

"Yeah, well some fuckin' friend you are." Marbles growled. He instantly regretted saying it out loud, but he wasn't going to back down on this, even if Taylor decided to beat the shit out of him.

Taylor catapulted out of bed and stood face to face with Marbles. Their noses were only inches from one another, despite the height difference. "Say that again."

"Some. Fucking. Friend. You. Are." Marbles growled. "I mean Jesus Taylor she doesn't deserve this! She cares about you and you just like to fuck with her emotions!" Marbles took a step forward and was close enough to feel Taylor's rushed breaths on his face. "You know what? Its not even worth it." He spat. He started walking towards the door and then turned sharply, "You don't deserve her, you know."

Taylor felt the heat rise in his chest and he wanted to charge on Marbles. "Oh and you do?" His fists were flexed and his muscles tensed, but the look on Marble's face made his mouth go dry.

"You're my friend Taylor and I love you, man. But she's my best friend. I wont lose her because you think with your dick too much. Sort your shit out or else you'll lose her forever." He said and shut the door with a loud thud.

Taylor stood there a little shell-shocked. Marbles had never gotten in his face like that ever before. Taylor growled slightly and punched the wall. He practically stomped into the bathroom to take a shower.

Maggie watched as Johnny came out of her room. For a second he looked extremely displeased and then composed himself. He smiled brightly at Maggie who was behind the counter in the kitchen prepping for breakfast.

"So where's everyone else?" Maggie asked multitasking and pulling three huge pans out at once.

"Everyone is still asleep." Marbles said pulling up a stool to the bar.

"So when you said _we're _going for breakfast you meant?"

He smiled, "Me and you."

Maggie just laughed, "Oh how I love you Johnny." She started clanking around again, pulling out a carton of eggs, a packet of bacon, some hash browns and numerous random condiments. She started first on Marbles's favorite: Chorizo breakfast burrito. "So how was the brunette?"

"Jamie." Marbles smiled. "She was really nice. She had to get out early this morning, but she gave me her number. Great in the sack."

Maggie giggled slightly. It was still funny to hear the men talk about sexual conquests to her. Most of the time they remained her awkward gangly boy friends that she grew up with. How they all turned into savvy, attractive, and even _sexy_ men was beyond her. "I'm glad. She was really cute."

"How was your night?" He smiled, wiggling his eyebrows.

Maggie rolled her eyes, "It was good. The bartender was..._fun_." She chuckled.

"He see that yet?" Marbles asked, pointing to the huge hickey on her neck.

Maggie's hand shot straight to the little bruise. Her fingers played over the spot where it was in her mind and she frowned. "No, and I completely forgot. I was planning on putting some concealer over it." She looked towards her room and heard the shower going. "Not much use now." She shrugged.

"I think its good." Marbles said, standing to start some coffee brewing.

"The hickey? Yeah it's a pretty good one, considering the last one I had was in my freshman year in high school." She laughed.

"That's not what I meant." He said.

She sighed, "I know." She looked over at Marbles who was staring at her skeptically. "So is everyone in on this pitiful drama or just you?"

"It's not pitiful." He said. Then smiled, his eyes glancing at her room, "And not everyone."

She chuckled bitterly, "I guess that's a relief." Her hands were moving a mile a minute over the skillet. She was adding spices, mixing up ingredients in a few different pans, trying not to look up at Chris again. "I wish I didn't, you know. It'd be easier it I didn't."

"Didn't what? Care about him?" Marbles scoffed. "I mean Jesus Maggie you've known him since you were born. And he loves you," She scoffed at that, "No, he does. He's just fuckin' stupid. You're my best friend and I wish you could put your love and trust into someone that counts. I'm not saying Taylor isn't a good guy, but I know that at least right not, he's not."

"Yeah and my biological clock is ticking." She smiled.

"I could help you out if you wanted a few babies." Matty said, opening the door and walking out with the beautiful woman with him. He was wearing a pair of pajama bottoms and nothing else. He looked tired but satisfied and his hair was a mess, but Matty could make just about anything sexy. The girl was wearing a pair of cut off jeans a few sizes too big that hung low on even her curvy hips. She had on Matty's wife beater and tied it at the side, exposing a few inches of her caramel skin. She wasn't wearing a bra underneath the shirt and Marbles couldn't help but stare.

"Oh Matty, so tactless." Maggie smiled. They sat down at the bar where Marbles had been sitting and he poured them cups of coffee. "I'm Maggie." She nodded to the girl, gesturing to the pans as if it hinted to why she couldn't shake her hand.

"Rheyna." She smiled and extended a hand to Marbles as well.

"Johnny, but everyone calls me Marbles." He smiled.

"Easy." Matty said, glaring at Marbles with a hand over his eyes. "My head is pounding. What did we drink last night?"

"Everything that got in our grubby little mitts." Rheyna smiled at Matty, patting him on the back.

"How come you girls don't feel like shit then?" Matty grumbled.

Rheyna looked at Maggie and they both smiled at each other. "I'd say we metabolize things rather quickly." Maggie said.

"Where's Scarpa?" Matty asked.

"Probably still asleep." Said Marbles.

"Those girls still here?" Rheyna asked. "No offense to your friend, but they were dumb as bricks."

Matty just laughed, "Yeah that's how Chris likes'em."

"No the mail-order geniuses went home early this morning. I saw them stumble out when Jamie left." Marbles said sipping his coffee.

"Taylor?" Matty asked.

"Shower." Maggie responded, handing out Marbles's burrito and then a heaping plate full of eggs, bacon, and hash browns for Matty. Rheyna wasn't shy and dug right in to Matty's food. Maggie was surprised to see that she liked the woman already. She seemed at ease in the situation and wasn't trying to push too far into the group of such obviously close-knit friends. Out of most of the other girls Matty had been with, she'd been the one Maggie didn't want to break in half within the first forty five seconds.

"Hungry?" Matty asked sarcastically.

Rheyna just smiled, the fork halfway to her mouth, "How do you suppose I try to keep my energy up?"

Matty smiled back and helped her clean the plate.

A few moments later, Scarpa came out of his room, dressed in nice slacks and a button down shirt. He looked like he was going to a wedding.

"Jesus Scarpa, you sleep in those things?" Maggie asked. "I feel like a bum."

Chris just smiled and grabbed a cup of coffee, "Gotta make an impression."

Maggie handed him a plate of food. "How was _your_ night?"

Chris just smiled coyly and sipped his coffee. "It was interesting."

"Sounded interesting." Matty chimed.

"Yeah, me and Jamie even took a break just to listen in on you guys. Then it just turned us on more and we went to it." He laughed and everyone joined in.

"I miss the party?" Taylor said, coming out of the bathroom in just jeans and nothing else.

Maggie looked up and smiled at him, trying to hide her insecurities and especially her desire. She glanced at Rheyna when Maggie was reaching for a plate and caught the momentary slack jawed look of awe on her face before she hid it. Maggie chuckled softly at that and piled some food onto a plate and handed it to Taylor.

He sat down and took the plate and some coffee, "Thanks Maggs."

"No problem babe." She smiled and then started on the clean up process.

"Maggs you don't have to do that." Marbles protested.

"Oh yeah and who will? You?" She laughed.

"Absolutely not. Taylor will. He was last out." Marbles smiled. Taylor glared at him for a few moments and then resumed shoveling in the food.

"I second that notion." Matty said.

"As do I." Chris smiled.

"Me too." Rheyna said.

Taylor shot her a look that would have killed most other people, but she just smiled back slyly, "Why does she get a say in this?"

"Shut up." Matty grumbled, "Majority rules."

"Fuck." He grumbled.

Maggie just laughed and scraped the left over food onto a plate for herself and sucked it down rather quickly.

A few moments later, Rheyna stood from her seat, "Thanks Maggie. The breakfast was fantastic. I have to get going." She looked at Matty.

He took a last sip of his coffee and stood. "Ok." He said simply and walked her back into the room, no doubt for one last hoorah before they parted ways.

Chris and Marbles stacked their cleaned plates on the counter and took their coffee to the couch across the room and put on the TV.

Maggie grabbed the plates and piled them in the sink, scraping off any left over residue into the trashcan. She grabbed the pans and filled them with steaming soapy water and let them sit to the side while she finished the other dishes. She was reaching for the first plate when a huge hand grabbed her wrist.

"I said I'd clean." Taylor grumbled.

Maggie looked up at him, "Was that before or after all the bitching and whining?"

Taylor just half smiled at her and bent down to kiss her cheek. "I got it." He whispered into her ear. He smacked her on the ass and pushed her out of the way.

Maggie turned sharply and smacked his shoulder as hard as she could. He recoiled slightly at the impact.

"What was that for?" Taylor griped.

Maggie just smiled, "Knee-jerk reaction."

He was smiling, his eyes wandering over her skin. She saw his eyes stop for a moment and then the smile was gone, an angry scowl in it's place. "What's that?" He pointed at her shoulder.

Maggie tried to feign innocence, "What's what?"

He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her over to the mirror, a little more roughly than what Matty had done the night before, "THAT." He growled, his finger pointing at the small dark spot.

Maggie went to touch it with her finger. She noticed the silence from Chris and Marbles and tried to regain composure. "Battle wound" She shrugged. She turned around and tried to push past him but he held his ground.

"What sort of battle leaves hickies?" He said, his voice so low and deep it was bone chilling.

"The fuckfest I had last night." She spat, glaring up at him, daring him to make an issue out of it.

"Who with?" He growled.

Maggie put her hands on her hips and glowered up at him, "Tell me why that's any of your fucking business."

He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her so close that she could feel his breath on her lips, "_You're_ my business."

She pushed his hands off and shoved him back, "I'm a grown fucking woman Taylor and you aren't my father. You sure as hell aren't my fucking boyfriend so _piss off_!"

"Maggie -," He growled.

"Save it." She said putting up a hand. She turned away from him, grabbed some cigarettes from the table and stalked into her room, shutting the door with a slam and locking it. She went into the bathroom, shut and locked that door, and wandered over to the bathtub. She climbed into the dry tub and sat on the ledge, opening the window just above it. She lit up her cigarette and took a long inhale. She stared out of the window at the clear blue sky and let the crisp air waft in around her.

She hated the way she loved him. How he pushed all of her buttons and could piss her off or turn her on in an instant. She hated how she trusted him with everything and wished that he would just grow the fuck up. She loved him and wanted to take care of him.

She wished he wasn't so oblivious.

A single tear escaped from her eye and she swiped it away roughly with the back of her hand. She felt like she'd never escape from this constant drama. She did a mental head smack for agreeing to move home. It was so much easier to forget the feelings and the pain when he wasn't so close. Every time she saw him, it was like the wound was ripped wide open once more. She thought about the wound, festering and pulsing, wishing it would just go the fuck away. Her mind wandered back to how everything went to shit.

A few years ago, when Maggie was still in school in California, the boys flew down to visit her for a week during spring break. She was on an academic scholarship and since her father didn't have to pay for tuition, he demanded that he pay for her lodging, so that Maggie could do internships and gain experience in her field. She lived in a nice little rented mobile home. The backyard turned into the shore in Ocean Beach a smallish and lively college town where everyone was laid back and just wanted to have fun.

The boys came down for spring break and they had parties just about every night. Maggie invited her friends from school plus any new friends from the frequent excursions out in OB the first few nights with the boys. Needless to say there was a lot of drinking and scantily clad bodies at this particular place. It was probably one of the best weeks of Maggie's entire life. She spent an entire week on the beach with a cooler of beer with her best friends, talking about nothing of importance and just enjoying the relaxation. It truly was the best.

On their last night there Maggie and the boys threw a huge party. They decided that this party should be pirate themed, because they had plenty of rum to spare and so if you weren't dressed up, you didn't get in.

Maggie had helped the boys with their ensembles, which included many frantic trips to the nearby thrift shops in order to find clothes that fit everyone and still looked Piratey enough. But at the start of the night, everyone was done up magically and looked great.

Once people started pouring into the small house, they started swallowing the alcohol by the liters. Surprisingly, they needed to make a booze run and so they elected Maggie and Taylor to walk down to the nearby liquor store and grab a few more bottles of whatever they could carry back.

Maggie remembered this part the best.

Her and Taylor were dressed like pirates. She had on a pair of tan linen shorts, cut jaggedly at a mere two inches below her ass and a humungous white hippie looking shirt that had a ridiculously low cut neck with her favorite black and white thick striped bikini underneath. Her unruly curls fell to her waist with a black skull and crossbones bandana on her head and an eye patch that switched eyes every few minutes. Taylor was wearing a similar looking pair of pants that hung low in his hips and went down to his ankles where they were cut in a jagged pattern. He wore nothing but two low slung belts a knee length leathery jacket and a hoop on his left ear. The jacket showed off his impressive chest and the amazing muscular V that led down to areas Maggie didn't know about.

"I have to say, you look great as a pirate." Maggie laughed.

Taylor pulled her close and slung an arm around her shoulder, "Aye wench, but I still can't believe I let you put me in eye liner."

She shrugged, "Matty, Marbles, and Scarpa let me do it. I know you didn't want to be left out. Plus, they all agreed to do it so that we could get you to put on make up."

Taylor grabbed Maggie and pinned her up against the nearest wall tickling her. They laughed and struggled against each other wrestling up against the wall.

It finally ended with Taylor pinning Maggie flat up against the wall. They're entire bodies were pressed up against each other, both of his hands holding hers above her head. The laughs were steadily dissolving into quicker, deeper breaths. Maggie stared up at him, with her one gleaming eye. She smiled up at him. His eyes were dark and liquid sensuality. She felt the heat from his stare dissipate to her limbs. Her skin was suddenly extremely sensitive where his was touching hers. She licked her lips.

Taylor took in a deep breath, "Maggs..." His voice was thick.

"Taylor?" She said huskily.

Before her breath came out on the last sound of his name he pressed his lips to hers. In a second, Maggie was frozen in disbelief but then her body erupted in different sensations. She put all of herself into the kiss and Taylor responded by opening his lips and gently forcing his tongue into her mouth. When their tongues touched, he let out a deep growl that made Maggie shake with ecstasy.

He let go of her arms and wrapped his around her small waist, pulling her as close as possible. She ripped off her eye patch and threw it off into the street, her free arms were around his neck in an instant and she pressed her entire body into his.

After a few minutes of ardent kissing, he pulled back and leaned his forehead against hers, "Jesus Maggs, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

She smiled, her heart beating wildly in her chest, "Me too."

"Where's the liquor store?" Taylor asked, kissing her again, softer this time.

Between kisses she responded, "Just...around.... the...corner."

He let himself taste her for a few seconds longer and pulled back, "Lets get their booze so they won't bitch. Then when we get back, we're gonna grab a blanket and go down to the beach." He kissed her again, putting forth more passion, "I want to make love to you."

Maggie's heart stopped beating for a moment. She looked up into Taylor's eyes and saw that he was being honest. She took a deep breath and responded quietly, "Ok."

He smiled back at her and kissed her sweetly, "Ok." He grabbed her hand and ran to the liquor store.

They grabbed a few bags of assorted rums and made their way back to her little house, stopping and kissing a few more times on the way. Despite their age it felt like it was their first relationship and they just discovered the wonders of sexual experiences. They deposited the booze and hung around aimlessly for a few more moments until people became involved with each other and the alcohol. Then Taylor grabbed a bottle of champagne that Maggie had sitting in her fridge and he winked at her. Maggie went to her room and grabbed two sleeping bags from her closet. She snuck out the back door and wandered down onto the shore. She looked around and couldn't see Taylor anywhere so she turned right and wandered down the beach for a little bit.

When the rocks obscured the lights from the party and the music was a little dulled, she found Taylor sitting on the rocks, smoking a cigarette. His jacket and belts were already off and lying on the rocks next to him. He stood up when he saw her and grabbed the sleeping bags. He unraveled them and zipped the two together to make one extra large bag and laid in on the sand. He uncorked the bottle of champagne and took a swig, handing it over to Maggie and lighting up a cigarette for her.

"Not too cold are you?" He smiled as she drank.

She handed him the bottle back and took the cigarette in his outstretched hand, "No, I'm fine actually. Its still pretty warm."

He smiled, "Anyone in these other houses?"

She shook her head, "No, these are used for vacation homes. People are only here a few weeks out of the year."

He reached out his hand and cupped her face, "Good."

She blushed frantically. A desire she'd had since she first started _feeling_ sexual urges was about to be realized. Her heart was beating so fast she was scared she'd explode. Of course, she was no blushing virgin. She'd been with a few guys in high school and one since she moved to California - but she was by no means an expert.

Taylor offered the bottle to Maggie and she took a small sip. He tilted it towards her, asking her the silent question of if she wanted to finish it. She shook her head and so he finished off the champagne in a long gulp. Maggie took a long pull off of her cigarette and then flicked it into the rocks. Taylor did the same and then turned and stared at her.

"I love you Maggie." He smiled and took her into his arms.

"I love you too Taylor." She said softly before his lips descended on hers.

She was surprised by the intensity of Taylor's movements. From the stories she'd heard from the rest of the guys, Taylor was very much a _wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am_ type of lover. This was _not_ how he was with her. He picked her up, still kissing and carried her over to the sleeping bags. He laid her inside the sleeping bag and slowly started to undress her. Maggie's breathing was growing deeper as his hands explored her skin. She was letting her fingers play along his body, letting them touch and test and memorize every single part of him.

Once he had her naked, he took a few seconds to slip out of his pants and toss them outside of the sleeping bag. He rolled on top of her and kissed her heatedly. His breath and tongue were hot inside her mouth and he tasted delicious like spiced rum and faintly of cigarettes. His lips strayed from her mouth and kissed down her neck and shoulders while one of his hands played down her abdomen and over her sides and thighs. He lifted off of her for a moment and unzipped one side of the sleeping bag. He sat back on his knees and looked down at Maggie, smiling.

She looked up at him in all of his glory and tried to remember how to breathe.

"You are _so_ beautiful." He said softly, his hands caressing her stomach and breasts, playing lightly with her sensitive nipples.

"I - I - I'm speechless." Maggie said softly.

"I'm sure I can remedy that." He smiled and dipped his head down, catching a nipple in his mouth while his other hand snaked down her stomach. He put a finger to her clit and Maggie jerked under his touch. "Don't worry honey. Everything's perfect." He said around her nipple.

Maggie knew everything was fine. It was so fine that she was biting her lip to keep from screaming out his name. His tongue was wet and hard, yet delicate and very agile along her sensitive flesh. His fingers were moving slowly inside of her, pressing against her most sensitive flesh and sending shock waves through her entire body.

He crawled up her body once more, leaving kisses all along the way, and found her mouth. He attacked her lips with a fierceness that she hadn't seen him have before, but rather than scare her, it excited her and she felt her body instantly respond and want more.

She felt him position himself between her thighs and she felt his penis press into her. It was very large and extremely hard and she found herself desperately wanting it inside of her - damn the proportions to hell, it was _gonna_ fit.

"I want to taste you." He said softly, smiling into her mouth.

She smiled back and winked, "You won't hear me complaining."

"I wouldn't mind hearing _something_." He whispered into her ear, kissing the lobe and then trailing kisses down her body.

"I'm scared I'll wake the neighborhood." She smiled.

His kisses got closer and closer to her stomach, but he kept creeping back up to kiss her breasts, "You said no one was around."

She just smiled, "I didn't necessarily mean _this_ neighborhood." He laughed and she felt his breath on her skin, "Plus what about the party."

"Honey if people aren't already doing this, then they are probably passed the fuck out." His mouth was on her hips, biting and licking at the bone beneath her skin. "I think a little audible responses would be appropriate." He smiled, finishing the sentence with a flick of his tongue on her clit.

She let out a moan without really knowing it. She heard him chuckle and his mouth ascended on her most sensitive flesh. His tongue was tasting all of her and probing areas that made her want to scream out his name. She managed to keep most of it under control, but for his own amusement, he deliberately licked and nibbled on the places that made her shudder. She would moan and say his name quietly and a sign of reinforcement and he'd continue.

Her hands flew to the back of his head and she scraped her nails along the smooth skin, her hips were involuntarily rolling towards his mouth and she was trying to stay quiet. She wanted to tell him to stop so that they could come together, but she was afraid to let any sound past her lips.

She pressed her nails a little harder into his skin and he understood and he felt her tighten around his tongue. He pulled back and wiped away the wetness left from her skin and grabbed his pants, pulling a condom out of the pocket and slipping it on. He then laid back on top of her, pulling the sleeping bag over their bodies.

"You taste wonderful." He smiled into her lips, kissing her with ferociousness and letting her taste herself on his lips and tongue. "You ready for me?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." She smiled.

He positioned himself at her entrance and looked down at her. He smiled lightly and kissed her gently on the lips, very chaste, very sweet. "I love you."

She smiled, "I love you too."

And he pushed inside her.

Maggie felt her insides stretch to an almost unbearable limit. Taylor stayed still until she grew accustomed to him. He let her make the first move, which surprisingly for him, was incredibly arousing. He was on top of her, but he kept off most of his weight, allowing her to move freely against him.

She started by rolling her hips against his and even the slightest movement of her tightness around him was incredibly satisfying. He looked down at her, watching her body move against his. He enjoyed seeing the sensations take over her body while reactions played across her features. He was smiling, loving the show when she opened her eyes, filled with desire and smiled at him.

"Am I gonna do all the work?" She said playfully.

"No ma'am." He smiled and began slowly thrusting into her.

"Jesus." She said softly. "Jesus. Shit. Fuck."

He kissed her passionately, "What a mouth on you."

"Oh," She chuckled, "You have _no_ idea."

He chucked too. "Quiet now," he smiled, kissing her lips and lowering his to her ear, "I want you to concentrate on this feeling."

"And what's _this feeling_?" She said softly into his ear, licking the lobe.

"Perfection sweetie. You don't find this everyday." He said softly and they lost themselves in the movements.

His body was strong and fierce and Maggie gladly took everything he had to give her. He was passionate and gentle with her, speeding up and going harder only when she begged him for it - which she eventually did. It was amazing how he seemed to use his entire body while making love to her, he used one arm to steady himself while the other moved all around her, touching and teasing her flesh. His other hand snaked into her long hair pulling lightly at the roots in order to give his mouth better access to hers. Her arms were around him, scraping her nails down his back, or her fingers were tracing lazy circles on his face and neck.

It ended almost frantically. The speed and intensity of the session picked up for the last few minutes while they ground into each other reaching oblivion. Taylor pushed as hard as he could and Maggie opened herself as wide as possible to let him go further. When they came, neither of them had enough and they definitely wanted more.

They laid there for a few moments and composed themselves, regulating their breathing and heart rates.

Taylor began kissing her again but Maggie pushed him away. He was almost destroyed by her rejection but she quickly dissuaded any feelings of fear in him when she smiled at him.

"Lets pick it up here and take it back to my bedroom."

"Lets go." He smiled and kissed her sweetly.

Maggie was brought back to life when she heard her cell phone buzz in the bedroom. She unlocked the door and peaked out. The door to the bedroom was still locked so she ran out and grabbed the phone quickly and retreated to her previous spot.

She looked at the screen and saw that there were two new messages. She clicked them open and one was from Marbles saying, _you ok? Need to talk, you know where to call._ She smiled at that and went to the next one. It was from Taylor. She instantly frowned. She opened the message, exhaling a large quantity of air before opening her eyes and reading it.

_Sorry about this morning...And everything. Love you. Call me when you don't hate me for being a huge dick._

She smiled slightly and then felt her resolve crumble. She was smoking a cigarette and trying to sob hysterically at the same time, but it wasn't working out. She decided she needed the cigarette more so than the sobs and tried to normalize her breathing.

She finished her cigarette and started up the bathtub, filling it with the hottest water she could possibly stand before her skin melted. She sank down into the tub and let the tears flow freely.

She thought about that single wonderful night they spent together, literally making love the entire night. She was pretty sure she only slept for a grand total of 2 hours that night she spent with him.

She also remembered waking up in the morning alone with a note next to her saying he went out to grab some food and coffee and she should stay in bed and wait for him. However, being Maggie she immediately got up and rushed to the bathroom, wrapping a long silky robe around herself and walking out into the front room to look for the other boys and see where they had slept.

That's when she saw Taylor on the couch with some skanky bleached blonde bouncing on his lap. She stood there in silence watching the horrible display until the girl was finished. She came loudly, shrilly screaming Taylor's name and then she climbed off of him. It was only when the girl bent down to put her mouth on Taylor that he looked up and saw Maggie standing in the hallway, watching them.

Before he could take in a breath, Maggie just grabbed a bottle of water and retreated into her room. Taylor pushed the girl off of him and tried to follow her but the door was locked. No matter how many times he knocked she wouldn't respond and so he left her alone.

When Maggie saw Taylor and the other woman she finally knew what it felt like to have a broken heart. Rather, her entire world shattered. All of the love and the passion that she held for Taylor that ran through her veins on a daily basis instantly froze in her veins. Instead of the broken heart, it simply shut down inside of her. Her body went cold and she lost all feeling...except for the memories of feeling _him_. So she just grabbed a water bottle and retreated into her bedroom to cry.

The boys left without saying goodbye and Maggie dove into school. She didn't talk to Taylor for at least six months and something she never knew was how that affected him as well. They were both vacant shells of human beings, droning along in their every day lives, functioning, but never really living.

Maggie still cried because the pain was as fresh as the moment that it happened, the sensations still vibrant in her mind. She realized that Taylor probably got over it and went back to living.

She had never gone back to truly living. She was just much better at making her functioning _look_ like living.


	5. Chapter 4

Hello everyone, I'm hoping you are enjoying the story so far. I'm having a fun time writing it. They're may be a few errors, but I usually check back a day or so later when my eyes are fresh and edit/correct the story. Please let me know if you are enjoying this. I appreciate the readers. It helps me become a better writer. :D

* * *

**-3-**

There was a moment of disorientation when Maggie woke up the next morning with something heavy and hot laying across her. She opened her eyes slowly, praising God for hotel blackout curtains, looked down at the arm over her chest and looked to her side.

She was face to face with Taylor, his sweet breath caressing her face. For a second she wished she was dreaming and she could kiss him. She felt like a fool. Like a fourth grader with her first crush - it just so happened that this crush had lasted for the better part of fifteen years. She sighed lightly and rolled onto her side, trying to put more distance between her and her fantasy.

He groaned when she tried to move and held tighter. She didn't feel like putting up a fight so instead of cursing her situation, she relished in the feeling of his arms wrapped around her. He was so comfortable and reminded Maggie of feeling safe and happy, plus he was just so warm. She scooted closer to him, snuggling up against his hard body and curling herself to fit against him better. She put her arms over his and felt his hand move to intertwine his fingers with hers.

While she wriggled to get closer she heard the groan shift into more of a moaning sound and he pulled her closer, put his lips to her hair. That's when she felt something start poking her in the ass.

She couldn't help the way her body responded. She was pretty sure her heart was beating so loud it was audible and her nipples got harder and more sensitive as the bulge pressed into her ass.

"Mmmm," He rumbled in her ear.

Maggie was almost sure that she didn't have a _complete_ orgasm from the sound. But it was _close_.

"Maggie?" He said, his voice soft and smooth, she could tell he was aroused. He'd sounded like this, speaking to her only once before.

"Mhmm?" She said as smoothly as possible, trying desperately to keep her voice from shaking.

He let go of her fingers for a moment and used his free hand to sweep her blonde tresses away from her neck and shoulders. She felt his lips graze her skin and she took in a fast, deep breath. A rumbling sound came from his chest as the small kisses got a little wetter. For a moment she thought she felt his tongue just barely grace her sensitive skin.

"Taylor?" She said breathlessly.

"Maggs?" She could feel his smile on her shoulder.

She couldn't think of anything to say. The most prominent thought in her mind was _Oh God!_, but she figured saying that out loud would not help the situation. "A-are you hungry?"

"Absolutely." His voice was thick and his lips were still on her shoulder.

"Umm, Taylor?" She said quietly.

"Yes Maggie?" He rumbled, his hands sneaking up beneath her tank top and splaying across her stomach.

She couldn't _believe_ she was about to say this, "What are you doing?"

She heard him sigh, "I have my arms wrapped around a half naked absolutely beautiful woman that I love. What do you think I'm doing?"

She sighed as well. She bit her lip to keep her emotions in check, "I know you love me Taylor but...I cant go through this again." She felt incredibly defeated.

"Maggs, I -,"

There was a knock at the door and Maggie bolted out of the bed before she could let her hormones take control. She opened the door to a smiling Marbles.

"Mornin' gorgeous." Marbles smiled. Taylor growled from the bed. "Oh so _that's_ where he is! We were gonna ask you about him." He pushed his way into the room and Maggie flipped on the lights.

She followed Marbles in and he sat on the couch. She slid a glace at Taylor. He was laying in bed, face up, with his hands behind his head. She sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, smiling at Marbles and trying not to think about whatever Taylor might be thinking.

"We're gonna go to breakfast." Marbles smiled.

"Breakfast?" Maggie asked, "I thought you all wanted me to make breakfast?"

Marbles smiled, "Well we weren't sure when you'd be getting up and we didn't want to wake you after the full night we all just had." His eyes glanced at Taylor for a second.

Maggie stood up and grabbed another tank top to slip over her almost see-through one. "I'm up. I'll make it. No need to go spend extra money." She smiled weakly and then walked out into the kitchen to start preparing food.

"Fancy seeing you here." Marbles said keeping his voice low and glaring at Taylor.

Taylor didn't return the look, "Fancy that."

"She doesn't deserve this." Marbles growled.

"Deserve what?" Taylor said, his tone steely. He was losing patience.

"To be fucked around on, that's what!" He spat and jumped off the couch.

"Its not like we're married." Taylor growled, "We aren't even in a fucking relationship, she's my friend."

"Yeah, well some fuckin' friend you are." Marbles growled. He instantly regretted saying it out loud, but he wasn't going to back down on this, even if Taylor decided to beat the shit out of him.

Taylor catapulted out of bed and stood face to face with Marbles. Their noses were only inches from one another, despite the height difference. "Say that again."

"Some. Fucking. Friend. You. Are." Marbles growled. "I mean Jesus Taylor she doesn't deserve this! She cares about you and you just like to fuck with her emotions!" Marbles took a step forward and was close enough to feel Taylor's rushed breaths on his face. "You know what? Its not even worth it." He spat. He started walking towards the door and then turned sharply, "You don't deserve her, you know."

Taylor felt the heat rise in his chest and he wanted to charge on Marbles. "Oh and you do?" His fists were flexed and his muscles tensed, but the look on Marble's face made his mouth go dry.

"You're my friend Taylor and I love you, man. But she's my best friend. I wont lose her because you think with your dick too much. Sort your shit out or else you'll lose her forever." He said and shut the door with a loud thud.

Taylor stood there a little shell-shocked. Marbles had never gotten in his face like that ever before. Taylor growled slightly and punched the wall. He practically stomped into the bathroom to take a shower.

Maggie watched as Johnny came out of her room. For a second he looked extremely displeased and then composed himself. He smiled brightly at Maggie who was behind the counter in the kitchen prepping for breakfast.

"So where's everyone else?" Maggie asked multitasking and pulling three huge pans out at once.

"Everyone is still asleep." Marbles said pulling up a stool to the bar.

"So when you said _we're _going for breakfast you meant?"

He smiled, "Me and you."

Maggie just laughed, "Oh how I love you Johnny." She started clanking around again, pulling out a carton of eggs, a packet of bacon, some hash browns and numerous random condiments. She started first on Marbles's favorite: Chorizo breakfast burrito. "So how was the brunette?"

"Jamie." Marbles smiled. "She was really nice. She had to get out early this morning, but she gave me her number. Great in the sack."

Maggie giggled slightly. It was still funny to hear the men talk about sexual conquests to her. Most of the time they remained her awkward gangly boy friends that she grew up with. How they all turned into savvy, attractive, and even _sexy_ men was beyond her. "I'm glad. She was really cute."

"How was your night?" He smiled, wiggling his eyebrows.

Maggie rolled her eyes, "It was good. The bartender was..._fun_." She chuckled.

"He see that yet?" Marbles asked, pointing to the huge hickey on her neck.

Maggie's hand shot straight to the little bruise. Her fingers played over the spot where it was in her mind and she frowned. "No, and I completely forgot. I was planning on putting some concealer over it." She looked towards her room and heard the shower going. "Not much use now." She shrugged.

"I think its good." Marbles said, standing to start some coffee brewing.

"The hickey? Yeah it's a pretty good one, considering the last one I had was in my freshman year in high school." She laughed.

"That's not what I meant." He said.

She sighed, "I know." She looked over at Marbles who was staring at her skeptically. "So is everyone in on this pitiful drama or just you?"

"It's not pitiful." He said. Then smiled, his eyes glancing at her room, "And not everyone."

She chuckled bitterly, "I guess that's a relief." Her hands were moving a mile a minute over the skillet. She was adding spices, mixing up ingredients in a few different pans, trying not to look up at Chris again. "I wish I didn't, you know. It'd be easier it I didn't."

"Didn't what? Care about him?" Marbles scoffed. "I mean Jesus Maggie you've known him since you were born. And he loves you," She scoffed at that, "No, he does. He's just fuckin' stupid. You're my best friend and I wish you could put your love and trust into someone that counts. I'm not saying Taylor isn't a good guy, but I know that at least right not, he's not."

"Yeah and my biological clock is ticking." She smiled.

"I could help you out if you wanted a few babies." Matty said, opening the door and walking out with the beautiful woman with him. He was wearing a pair of pajama bottoms and nothing else. He looked tired but satisfied and his hair was a mess, but Matty could make just about anything sexy. The girl was wearing a pair of cut off jeans a few sizes too big that hung low on even her curvy hips. She had on Matty's wife beater and tied it at the side, exposing a few inches of her caramel skin. She wasn't wearing a bra underneath the shirt and Marbles couldn't help but stare.

"Oh Matty, so tactless." Maggie smiled. They sat down at the bar where Marbles had been sitting and he poured them cups of coffee. "I'm Maggie." She nodded to the girl, gesturing to the pans as if it hinted to why she couldn't shake her hand.

"Rheyna." She smiled and extended a hand to Marbles as well.

"Johnny, but everyone calls me Marbles." He smiled.

"Easy." Matty said, glaring at Marbles with a hand over his eyes. "My head is pounding. What did we drink last night?"

"Everything that got in our grubby little mitts." Rheyna smiled at Matty, patting him on the back.

"How come you girls don't feel like shit then?" Matty grumbled.

Rheyna looked at Maggie and they both smiled at each other. "I'd say we metabolize things rather quickly." Maggie said.

"Where's Scarpa?" Matty asked.

"Probably still asleep." Said Marbles.

"Those girls still here?" Rheyna asked. "No offense to your friend, but they were dumb as bricks."

Matty just laughed, "Yeah that's how Chris likes'em."

"No the mail-order geniuses went home early this morning. I saw them stumble out when Jamie left." Marbles said sipping his coffee.

"Taylor?" Matty asked.

"Shower." Maggie responded, handing out Marbles's burrito and then a heaping plate full of eggs, bacon, and hash browns for Matty. Rheyna wasn't shy and dug right in to Matty's food. Maggie was surprised to see that she liked the woman already. She seemed at ease in the situation and wasn't trying to push too far into the group of such obviously close-knit friends. Out of most of the other girls Matty had been with, she'd been the one Maggie didn't want to break in half within the first forty five seconds.

"Hungry?" Matty asked sarcastically.

Rheyna just smiled, the fork halfway to her mouth, "How do you suppose I try to keep my energy up?"

Matty smiled back and helped her clean the plate.

A few moments later, Scarpa came out of his room, dressed in nice slacks and a button down shirt. He looked like he was going to a wedding.

"Jesus Scarpa, you sleep in those things?" Maggie asked. "I feel like a bum."

Chris just smiled and grabbed a cup of coffee, "Gotta make an impression."

Maggie handed him a plate of food. "How was _your_ night?"

Chris just smiled coyly and sipped his coffee. "It was interesting."

"Sounded interesting." Matty chimed.

"Yeah, me and Jamie even took a break just to listen in on you guys. Then it just turned us on more and we went to it." He laughed and everyone joined in.

"I miss the party?" Taylor said, coming out of the bathroom in just jeans and nothing else.

Maggie looked up and smiled at him, trying to hide her insecurities and especially her desire. She glanced at Rheyna when Maggie was reaching for a plate and caught the momentary slack jawed look of awe on her face before she hid it. Maggie chuckled softly at that and piled some food onto a plate and handed it to Taylor.

He sat down and took the plate and some coffee, "Thanks Maggs."

"No problem babe." She smiled and then started on the clean up process.

"Maggs you don't have to do that." Marbles protested.

"Oh yeah and who will? You?" She laughed.

"Absolutely not. Taylor will. He was last out." Marbles smiled. Taylor glared at him for a few moments and then resumed shoveling in the food.

"I second that notion." Matty said.

"As do I." Chris smiled.

"Me too." Rheyna said.

Taylor shot her a look that would have killed most other people, but she just smiled back slyly, "Why does she get a say in this?"

"Shut up." Matty grumbled, "Majority rules."

"Fuck." He grumbled.

Maggie just laughed and scraped the left over food onto a plate for herself and sucked it down rather quickly.

A few moments later, Rheyna stood from her seat, "Thanks Maggie. The breakfast was fantastic. I have to get going." She looked at Matty.

He took a last sip of his coffee and stood. "Ok." He said simply and walked her back into the room, no doubt for one last hoorah before they parted ways.

Chris and Marbles stacked their cleaned plates on the counter and took their coffee to the couch across the room and put on the TV.

Maggie grabbed the plates and piled them in the sink, scraping off any left over residue into the trashcan. She grabbed the pans and filled them with steaming soapy water and let them sit to the side while she finished the other dishes. She was reaching for the first plate when a huge hand grabbed her wrist.

"I said I'd clean." Taylor grumbled.

Maggie looked up at him, "Was that before or after all the bitching and whining?"

Taylor just half smiled at her and bent down to kiss her cheek. "I got it." He whispered into her ear. He smacked her on the ass and pushed her out of the way.

Maggie turned sharply and smacked his shoulder as hard as she could. He recoiled slightly at the impact.

"What was that for?" Taylor griped.

Maggie just smiled, "Knee-jerk reaction."

He was smiling, his eyes wandering over her skin. She saw his eyes stop for a moment and then the smile was gone, an angry scowl in it's place. "What's that?" He pointed at her shoulder.

Maggie tried to feign innocence, "What's what?"

He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her over to the mirror, a little more roughly than what Matty had done the night before, "THAT." He growled, his finger pointing at the small dark spot.

Maggie went to touch it with her finger. She noticed the silence from Chris and Marbles and tried to regain composure. "Battle wound" She shrugged. She turned around and tried to push past him but he held his ground.

"What sort of battle leaves hickies?" He said, his voice so low and deep it was bone chilling.

"The fuckfest I had last night." She spat, glaring up at him, daring him to make an issue out of it.

"Who with?" He growled.

Maggie put her hands on her hips and glowered up at him, "Tell me why that's any of your fucking business."

He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her so close that she could feel his breath on her lips, "_You're_ my business."

She pushed his hands off and shoved him back, "I'm a grown fucking woman Taylor and you aren't my father. You sure as hell aren't my fucking boyfriend so _piss off_!"

"Maggie -," He growled.

"Save it." She said putting up a hand. She turned away from him, grabbed some cigarettes from the table and stalked into her room, shutting the door with a slam and locking it. She went into the bathroom, shut and locked that door, and wandered over to the bathtub. She climbed into the dry tub and sat on the ledge, opening the window just above it. She lit up her cigarette and took a long inhale. She stared out of the window at the clear blue sky and let the crisp air waft in around her.

She hated the way she loved him. How he pushed all of her buttons and could piss her off or turn her on in an instant. She hated how she trusted him with everything and wished that he would just grow the fuck up. She loved him and wanted to take care of him.

She wished he wasn't so oblivious.

A single tear escaped from her eye and she swiped it away roughly with the back of her hand. She felt like she'd never escape from this constant drama. She did a mental head smack for agreeing to move home. It was so much easier to forget the feelings and the pain when he wasn't so close. Every time she saw him, it was like the wound was ripped wide open once more. She thought about the wound, festering and pulsing, wishing it would just go the fuck away. Her mind wandered back to how everything went to shit.

A few years ago, when Maggie was still in school in California, the boys flew down to visit her for a week during spring break. She was on an academic scholarship and since her father didn't have to pay for tuition, he demanded that he pay for her lodging, so that Maggie could do internships and gain experience in her field. She lived in a nice little rented mobile home. The backyard turned into the shore in Ocean Beach a smallish and lively college town where everyone was laid back and just wanted to have fun.

The boys came down for spring break and they had parties just about every night. Maggie invited her friends from school plus any new friends from the frequent excursions out in OB the first few nights with the boys. Needless to say there was a lot of drinking and scantily clad bodies at this particular place. It was probably one of the best weeks of Maggie's entire life. She spent an entire week on the beach with a cooler of beer with her best friends, talking about nothing of importance and just enjoying the relaxation. It truly was the best.

On their last night there Maggie and the boys threw a huge party. They decided that this party should be pirate themed, because they had plenty of rum to spare and so if you weren't dressed up, you didn't get in.

Maggie had helped the boys with their ensembles, which included many frantic trips to the nearby thrift shops in order to find clothes that fit everyone and still looked Piratey enough. But at the start of the night, everyone was done up magically and looked great.

Once people started pouring into the small house, they started swallowing the alcohol by the liters. Surprisingly, they needed to make a booze run and so they elected Maggie and Taylor to walk down to the nearby liquor store and grab a few more bottles of whatever they could carry back.

Maggie remembered this part the best.

Her and Taylor were dressed like pirates. She had on a pair of tan linen shorts, cut jaggedly at a mere two inches below her ass and a humungous white hippie looking shirt that had a ridiculously low cut neck with her favorite black and white thick striped bikini underneath. Her unruly curls fell to her waist with a black skull and crossbones bandana on her head and an eye patch that switched eyes every few minutes. Taylor was wearing a similar looking pair of pants that hung low in his hips and went down to his ankles where they were cut in a jagged pattern. He wore nothing but two low slung belts a knee length leathery jacket and a hoop on his left ear. The jacket showed off his impressive chest and the amazing muscular V that led down to areas Maggie didn't know about.

"I have to say, you look great as a pirate." Maggie laughed.

Taylor pulled her close and slung an arm around her shoulder, "Aye wench, but I still can't believe I let you put me in eye liner."

She shrugged, "Matty, Marbles, and Scarpa let me do it. I know you didn't want to be left out. Plus, they all agreed to do it so that we could get you to put on make up."

Taylor grabbed Maggie and pinned her up against the nearest wall tickling her. They laughed and struggled against each other wrestling up against the wall.

It finally ended with Taylor pinning Maggie flat up against the wall. They're entire bodies were pressed up against each other, both of his hands holding hers above her head. The laughs were steadily dissolving into quicker, deeper breaths. Maggie stared up at him, with her one gleaming eye. She smiled up at him. His eyes were dark and liquid sensuality. She felt the heat from his stare dissipate to her limbs. Her skin was suddenly extremely sensitive where his was touching hers. She licked her lips.

Taylor took in a deep breath, "Maggs..." His voice was thick.

"Taylor?" She said huskily.

Before her breath came out on the last sound of his name he pressed his lips to hers. In a second, Maggie was frozen in disbelief but then her body erupted in different sensations. She put all of herself into the kiss and Taylor responded by opening his lips and gently forcing his tongue into her mouth. When their tongues touched, he let out a deep growl that made Maggie shake with ecstasy.

He let go of her arms and wrapped his around her small waist, pulling her as close as possible. She ripped off her eye patch and threw it off into the street, her free arms were around his neck in an instant and she pressed her entire body into his.

After a few minutes of ardent kissing, he pulled back and leaned his forehead against hers, "Jesus Maggs, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

She smiled, her heart beating wildly in her chest, "Me too."

"Where's the liquor store?" Taylor asked, kissing her again, softer this time.

Between kisses she responded, "Just...around.... the...corner."

He let himself taste her for a few seconds longer and pulled back, "Lets get their booze so they won't bitch. Then when we get back, we're gonna grab a blanket and go down to the beach." He kissed her again, putting forth more passion, "I want to make love to you."

Maggie's heart stopped beating for a moment. She looked up into Taylor's eyes and saw that he was being honest. She took a deep breath and responded quietly, "Ok."

He smiled back at her and kissed her sweetly, "Ok." He grabbed her hand and ran to the liquor store.

They grabbed a few bags of assorted rums and made their way back to her little house, stopping and kissing a few more times on the way. Despite their age it felt like it was their first relationship and they just discovered the wonders of sexual experiences. They deposited the booze and hung around aimlessly for a few more moments until people became involved with each other and the alcohol. Then Taylor grabbed a bottle of champagne that Maggie had sitting in her fridge and he winked at her. Maggie went to her room and grabbed two sleeping bags from her closet. She snuck out the back door and wandered down onto the shore. She looked around and couldn't see Taylor anywhere so she turned right and wandered down the beach for a little bit.

When the rocks obscured the lights from the party and the music was a little dulled, she found Taylor sitting on the rocks, smoking a cigarette. His jacket and belts were already off and lying on the rocks next to him. He stood up when he saw her and grabbed the sleeping bags. He unraveled them and zipped the two together to make one extra large bag and laid in on the sand. He uncorked the bottle of champagne and took a swig, handing it over to Maggie and lighting up a cigarette for her.

"Not too cold are you?" He smiled as she drank.

She handed him the bottle back and took the cigarette in his outstretched hand, "No, I'm fine actually. Its still pretty warm."

He smiled, "Anyone in these other houses?"

She shook her head, "No, these are used for vacation homes. People are only here a few weeks out of the year."

He reached out his hand and cupped her face, "Good."

She blushed frantically. A desire she'd had since she first started _feeling_ sexual urges was about to be realized. Her heart was beating so fast she was scared she'd explode. Of course, she was no blushing virgin. She'd been with a few guys in high school and one since she moved to California - but she was by no means an expert.

Taylor offered the bottle to Maggie and she took a small sip. He tilted it towards her, asking her the silent question of if she wanted to finish it. She shook her head and so he finished off the champagne in a long gulp. Maggie took a long pull off of her cigarette and then flicked it into the rocks. Taylor did the same and then turned and stared at her.

"I love you Maggie." He smiled and took her into his arms.

"I love you too Taylor." She said softly before his lips descended on hers.

She was surprised by the intensity of Taylor's movements. From the stories she'd heard from the rest of the guys, Taylor was very much a _wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am_ type of lover. This was _not_ how he was with her. He picked her up, still kissing and carried her over to the sleeping bags. He laid her inside the sleeping bag and slowly started to undress her. Maggie's breathing was growing deeper as his hands explored her skin. She was letting her fingers play along his body, letting them touch and test and memorize every single part of him.

Once he had her naked, he took a few seconds to slip out of his pants and toss them outside of the sleeping bag. He rolled on top of her and kissed her heatedly. His breath and tongue were hot inside her mouth and he tasted delicious like spiced rum and faintly of cigarettes. His lips strayed from her mouth and kissed down her neck and shoulders while one of his hands played down her abdomen and over her sides and thighs. He lifted off of her for a moment and unzipped one side of the sleeping bag. He sat back on his knees and looked down at Maggie, smiling.

She looked up at him in all of his glory and tried to remember how to breathe.

"You are _so_ beautiful." He said softly, his hands caressing her stomach and breasts, playing lightly with her sensitive nipples.

"I - I - I'm speechless." Maggie said softly.

"I'm sure I can remedy that." He smiled and dipped his head down, catching a nipple in his mouth while his other hand snaked down her stomach. He put a finger to her clit and Maggie jerked under his touch. "Don't worry honey. Everything's perfect." He said around her nipple.

Maggie knew everything was fine. It was so fine that she was biting her lip to keep from screaming out his name. His tongue was wet and hard, yet delicate and very agile along her sensitive flesh. His fingers were moving slowly inside of her, pressing against her most sensitive flesh and sending shock waves through her entire body.

He crawled up her body once more, leaving kisses all along the way, and found her mouth. He attacked her lips with a fierceness that she hadn't seen him have before, but rather than scare her, it excited her and she felt her body instantly respond and want more.

She felt him position himself between her thighs and she felt his penis press into her. It was very large and extremely hard and she found herself desperately wanting it inside of her - damn the proportions to hell, it was _gonna_ fit.

"I want to taste you." He said softly, smiling into her mouth.

She smiled back and winked, "You won't hear me complaining."

"I wouldn't mind hearing _something_." He whispered into her ear, kissing the lobe and then trailing kisses down her body.

"I'm scared I'll wake the neighborhood." She smiled.

His kisses got closer and closer to her stomach, but he kept creeping back up to kiss her breasts, "You said no one was around."

She just smiled, "I didn't necessarily mean _this_ neighborhood." He laughed and she felt his breath on her skin, "Plus what about the party."

"Honey if people aren't already doing this, then they are probably passed the fuck out." His mouth was on her hips, biting and licking at the bone beneath her skin. "I think a little audible responses would be appropriate." He smiled, finishing the sentence with a flick of his tongue on her clit.

She let out a moan without really knowing it. She heard him chuckle and his mouth ascended on her most sensitive flesh. His tongue was tasting all of her and probing areas that made her want to scream out his name. She managed to keep most of it under control, but for his own amusement, he deliberately licked and nibbled on the places that made her shudder. She would moan and say his name quietly and a sign of reinforcement and he'd continue.

Her hands flew to the back of his head and she scraped her nails along the smooth skin, her hips were involuntarily rolling towards his mouth and she was trying to stay quiet. She wanted to tell him to stop so that they could come together, but she was afraid to let any sound past her lips.

She pressed her nails a little harder into his skin and he understood and he felt her tighten around his tongue. He pulled back and wiped away the wetness left from her skin and grabbed his pants, pulling a condom out of the pocket and slipping it on. He then laid back on top of her, pulling the sleeping bag over their bodies.

"You taste wonderful." He smiled into her lips, kissing her with ferociousness and letting her taste herself on his lips and tongue. "You ready for me?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." She smiled.

He positioned himself at her entrance and looked down at her. He smiled lightly and kissed her gently on the lips, very chaste, very sweet. "I love you."

She smiled, "I love you too."

And he pushed inside her.

Maggie felt her insides stretch to an almost unbearable limit. Taylor stayed still until she grew accustomed to him. He let her make the first move, which surprisingly for him, was incredibly arousing. He was on top of her, but he kept off most of his weight, allowing her to move freely against him.

She started by rolling her hips against his and even the slightest movement of her tightness around him was incredibly satisfying. He looked down at her, watching her body move against his. He enjoyed seeing the sensations take over her body while reactions played across her features. He was smiling, loving the show when she opened her eyes, filled with desire and smiled at him.

"Am I gonna do all the work?" She said playfully.

"No ma'am." He smiled and began slowly thrusting into her.

"Jesus." She said softly. "Jesus. Shit. Fuck."

He kissed her passionately, "What a mouth on you."

"Oh," She chuckled, "You have _no_ idea."

He chucked too. "Quiet now," he smiled, kissing her lips and lowering his to her ear, "I want you to concentrate on this feeling."

"And what's _this feeling_?" She said softly into his ear, licking the lobe.

"Perfection sweetie. You don't find this everyday." He said softly and they lost themselves in the movements.

His body was strong and fierce and Maggie gladly took everything he had to give her. He was passionate and gentle with her, speeding up and going harder only when she begged him for it - which she eventually did. It was amazing how he seemed to use his entire body while making love to her, he used one arm to steady himself while the other moved all around her, touching and teasing her flesh. His other hand snaked into her long hair pulling lightly at the roots in order to give his mouth better access to hers. Her arms were around him, scraping her nails down his back, or her fingers were tracing lazy circles on his face and neck.

It ended almost frantically. The speed and intensity of the session picked up for the last few minutes while they ground into each other reaching oblivion. Taylor pushed as hard as he could and Maggie opened herself as wide as possible to let him go further. When they came, neither of them had enough and they definitely wanted more.

They laid there for a few moments and composed themselves, regulating their breathing and heart rates.

Taylor began kissing her again but Maggie pushed him away. He was almost destroyed by her rejection but she quickly dissuaded any feelings of fear in him when she smiled at him.

"Lets pick it up here and take it back to my bedroom."

"Lets go." He smiled and kissed her sweetly.

Maggie was brought back to life when she heard her cell phone buzz in the bedroom. She unlocked the door and peaked out. The door to the bedroom was still locked so she ran out and grabbed the phone quickly and retreated to her previous spot.

She looked at the screen and saw that there were two new messages. She clicked them open and one was from Marbles saying, _you ok? Need to talk, you know where to call._ She smiled at that and went to the next one. It was from Taylor. She instantly frowned. She opened the message, exhaling a large quantity of air before opening her eyes and reading it.

_Sorry about this morning...And everything. Love you. Call me when you don't hate me for being a huge dick._

She smiled slightly and then felt her resolve crumble. She was smoking a cigarette and trying to sob hysterically at the same time, but it wasn't working out. She decided she needed the cigarette more so than the sobs and tried to normalize her breathing.

She finished her cigarette and started up the bathtub, filling it with the hottest water she could possibly stand before her skin melted. She sank down into the tub and let the tears flow freely.

She thought about that single wonderful night they spent together, literally making love the entire night. She was pretty sure she only slept for a grand total of 2 hours that night she spent with him.

She also remembered waking up in the morning alone with a note next to her saying he went out to grab some food and coffee and she should stay in bed and wait for him. However, being Maggie she immediately got up and rushed to the bathroom, wrapping a long silky robe around herself and walking out into the front room to look for the other boys and see where they had slept.

That's when she saw Taylor on the couch with some skanky bleached blonde bouncing on his lap. She stood there in silence watching the horrible display until the girl was finished. She came loudly, shrilly screaming Taylor's name and then she climbed off of him. It was only when the girl bent down to put her mouth on Taylor that he looked up and saw Maggie standing in the hallway, watching them.

Before he could take in a breath, Maggie just grabbed a bottle of water and retreated into her room. Taylor pushed the girl off of him and tried to follow her but the door was locked. No matter how many times he knocked she wouldn't respond and so he left her alone.

When Maggie saw Taylor and the other woman she finally knew what it felt like to have a broken heart. Rather, her entire world shattered. All of the love and the passion that she held for Taylor that ran through her veins on a daily basis instantly froze in her veins. Instead of the broken heart, it simply shut down inside of her. Her body went cold and she lost all feeling...except for the memories of feeling _him_. So she just grabbed a water bottle and retreated into her bedroom to cry.

The boys left without saying goodbye and Maggie dove into school. She didn't talk to Taylor for at least six months and something she never knew was how that affected him as well. They were both vacant shells of human beings, droning along in their every day lives, functioning, but never really living.

Maggie still cried because the pain was as fresh as the moment that it happened, the sensations still vibrant in her mind. She realized that Taylor probably got over it and went back to living.

She had never gone back to truly living. She was just much better at making her functioning _look_ like living.


	6. Chapter 5

Hello everyone! I hope people are enjoying the story! I would REALLY appreciate reviews so that I know to keep writing...I mean, I'll probably keep writing anyways, but its nice to know someone other than me is reading it. haha!

by the way does anyone know how to post pictures or links in here? I'm trying to put up pictures of the people I'm envisioning as my characters but it wont let me...GRRR! Let me know if u do!!!

Until then these are who my characters look like:

The guys = the guys from the movie (u-duh)

Maggie = Kate Hudson

Arthur = Ryan Reynolds

* * *

**-5-**

Surprisingly it was extremely easy for Maggie to uproot herself and move back home. She thanked her current boss graciously and put in her two weeks. They were sad to see her go and desperately tried to bribe her to stay with a pay increase, but nothing could compare with the deal Benny offered her. With the help of the boys and quite a few thirty packs of beer, she had packed up her life in about a day. The moving trucks came and the boys plus a moving crew helped her get all of her shit into a single truck and over to her new place.

Though Benny had offered her a suite at the hotel, Maggie decided to live in a little condo just outside the city. It was a short walk or a quick trip on the subway in worse weather to work and it was quite private. The condo she found was three bedrooms, two baths, with a fantastic up to date kitchen, a fireplace, and a small yard. It was much smaller than her last apartment but it was comfortable and homey and it suited Maggie rather well.

It took her a few more days to get situated and get all of her things organized. Her last apartment actually came furnished so Maggie had the opportunity to decorate this time around. She found that she actually enjoyed that part. It was nice to create a home for herself, a place where she felt at peace. So she went to a few department stores found some comfortable, overstuffed furniture and a few knick-knacks and formed the place around her. She would never get over her previous beachy property, but she tried her best to duplicate it here. She got furniture in light, cool colors of creamy Birchwood that made the place feel brighter. She bought beautiful color photographs of the beach and ocean as well as sunsets - which were basically her favorite things. She got a new simple bed frame for her king sized tempur pedic mattress - the only reason she owned a king size was because she frequently ended up with four oversized men in her bed, usually at the same time, and needed the space. She found everything she could that had palm trees or beach scenes and covered her condo with it. If she couldn't _have_ the beach, she'd have the next best thing.

About a week later, things were finally organized and she was ready to start full time at the Hotel. She was very excited for this new opportunity and couldn't wait until she got to sink her teeth into the business. It was Friday and Benny had given her the weekend to rest.

She'd happily rented a few movies to spend her weekend being a bum and watching all of them from start to finish. It was probably eight p.m. when Marbles showed up at her condo and joined in her marathon.

"You are seriously watching this crap?" He asked, cracking open a can of beer.

She growled at him, "No one invited you to my smutfest."

He smiled, sipping his beer, "Yeah, but vampires? _Really?"_

She shrugged, "The main character is hot."

He chuckled, "Isn't he like sixteen?"

She smiled wryly back at him, "Has that ever stopped any of us?"

Marbled just laughed out loud and continued to sip his beer. They sat in companionable silence, watching the two teenagers on screen developing undying devotion and passion in a span of fifteen minutes. Marbles just chuckled cynically during most of the film while Maggie stared at him evilly out of the corner of her eye. When the movie was over, he laughed a little harder at Maggie.

"You can leave you know." She spat, standing to put in the next movie.

He smiled sweetly, "But then you wouldn't get to spend so much wonderful time with me. Plus I ordered pizza a few minutes ago while I took a piss."

She stared at him with her lip curled, "Yick. Thats sick."

"Its Tino's." He smiled.

She looked at him appreciatively, "Well...If It's Tino's." She shrugged and sat down on the couch.

"What's this one?" He asked, passing her a beer and cracking another one for himself.

"_Hot Fuzz_." She said.

He shrugged, "Hm, never seen it."

She smiled widely, "You'll love it. I mean it. This movie is life changing." He simply chuckled and relaxed while the previews rolled.

"So, any new developments in the love life?"

She sighed, "I've hit a brick wall and I haven't moved for the past twenty years."

He chuckled, "You know you really should just get over it."

She stared at him incredulously, "You're a shit."

He smiled, "I know."

She grabbed her beer and paused the movie, "Now I need a cigarette. You made me think and I need to kill a few brain cells."

He stood and helped her up, "Sounds like a plan." He walked her outside and lit a cigarette for her. They sat on the comfortable chairs she stole from the hotel and had their cigarette in silence.

Maggie's doorbell rang and Marbles stubbed out his cigarette and walked inside. She watched him from the backyard - a luxury was the large sliding glass doors onto her back patio where she could see almost all of her little home. He pulled out his wallet and made his way into the foyer and answered the door.

For a few seconds she let her mind wander and thought about her pathetic love life. She knew she might never care for anyone like she cared for Taylor, but that shouldn't stop her from finding someone who loved her back. The boys could tell her he loved her about a million times, but until he conceded, she never would. She sighed and decided to try. She wasn't getting any younger and she'd always wanted kids and now was the time to do it. She was too smart to jump into something without thinking it through, but she just couldn't wait on Taylor for the rest of her life.

She looked up when Marbles knocked on the window - Taylor and Matty stood behind him, carrying the Tino's box and a twelve pack of beer. She smiled lightly, something that her heart wasn't really behind and they all noticed. She tried to hide her depressing enlightened moment from them as she stubbed out her cigarette and stood to go inside. When she entered, Matty smiled at her and kissed her cheek. He took the beer and carried it into the kitchen to stick in the fridge. Taylor set down the pizzas and walked over to Maggie. He wrapped his big arms around her and went to kiss her lips, but Maggie deftly moved her head to the side and dodged it. He kissed her cheek, hesitantly and let her go. Without looking at him she walked into the kitchen and started chatting it up with Matty.

Taylor actually felt hurt. Never in his life had Maggie ever refused a kiss from him. He knew something was up and it freaked him the hell out. He turned to Marbles who was obviously trying not to laugh while sipping his beer and a low growl escaped his lips. He plopped down on the couch a seat away from Marbles where Maggie would fit and took his first slice of pizza.

Maggie and Matty came out of the kitchen with a few beers, plates, and napkins for the group. Maggie handed out the plates and napkins and Marbles chuckled at her.

"Hey this is _my_ house and _my_ shit. I don't want your grimy Italian hands getting everything all greasy." She smiled.

Matty tossed out the beers and sat on the edge of the couch. Much to everyone's surprise, Maggie chose the seat between Marbles and Matty. Taylor almost choked on his beer. Matty let out a sly grin and put his arm around her shoulders just to rub it in. Maggie reached for the controller, trying to ignore the men around her and pressed play. The movie started with Taylor still glaring at her. She curled up into Matty's side as the previews rolled and ignored his ice-cold glare.

* * *

Maggie woke up and rolled to her side. She was face to face with a drooling half dead Marbles. She rolled over again and there was Matty on her other side. She sighed and lifted her head and tried to spot Taylor, but she didn't see him. She sighed and slid out from under the covers and crawled to the end of the bed. She was in a pair of underwear and a tank top. She looked back at the bed and saw Marbles in his white t-shirt and probably boxers, since his socked feet were poking out from under the covers. Matty had no shirt on and she _hoped_ he was wearing boxers, cause his feet were bare, and they drank a lot of beer last night.

She smiled and grabbed her nearest pair of jeans that were rumpled on the floor and slid them on. She grabbed a pair of flip-flops and a big jacket and hustled out of her bedroom quietly.

When she turned to the front room, she saw that there were a few empty pizza boxes and a lot of empty bottles and cans littered around her new house. She felt a little huffy, but it diminished when she remembered that she had consumed a good portion of what was in those now empty bottles and cans.

That's when something in her periphery caught her eye. She saw Taylor, lying on the couch. His huge form fit okay on the couch, except that his large feet dangled off the edge. She tried not to laugh and decided that this was karma paying him back for all the times _she'd_ slept on the couch while Taylor had women in his room. She grabbed her keys and left, walking to a small coffee shop around the corner in order to grab some fuel for her and the boys.

She lit a cigarette while she was outside, enjoying that first, awfully awesome lungful of tar and watched as people wandered in and out of the little shop. The great part about this part of town was that it was small-time without being hick. Most of the places around there were small businesses and mostly family owned. It was a lot like an area of Ocean Beach that she remembered and the number one reason why she picked living here.

She flicked her cigarette into the street and turned to walk inside. She ran her face directly into the chest of the man who was coming out of the coffee shop. There were a lot of curse words and loud noises as Maggie went down on her ass. The man himself stumbled backwards, balancing a few cups of coffee in order to keep them from dumping all over Maggie. She was extremely grateful.

"Shit! I'm so sorry!" He said.

Maggie sat stunned on the ground for a bit, the wind knocked out of her while the man shuffled to put down his coffees. He helped her stand up and Maggie was about to let out a string of profanities that would make a sailor blush, but when she looked up at him, she was surprised who it was. The man was about 6'2" and absolutely adorable. He had shaggy light brown hair and a well-toned body. It wasn't overly muscular, just firm, and you could see that he was an active person. His skin had a slight tan to it, which highlighted his vivid brown eyes and his perfect white smile. Maggie knew the smile from quite a few years back. She knew it from her college years. An old friend from her intramural flag football team.

"Arthur?" She said, her eyes squinting, as if that helped take in his features more clearly. "Arthur Freisel?"

He looked down at her, rather confused for a few moments and then recognition hit, "Holy shit! Maggie!?" He said loudly. Before she could get out another sentence he pulled her in for a tight hug and she was surprised that she didn't mind the contact.

"How are you?" Maggie smiled, now she knew how strong he was.

"Shit, I'm doing fine! Are you okay?" He asked pulling her back and looking her over with concern, "I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking when I came out here and I totally ran you over!"

Maggie just smiled, "No worries, I'm a resilient little girl."

He looked her up and down and smiled, "Yeah, I remember." He sort of shook himself from being so obviously ogling and caught her eyes again, "Wow! I can't believe it. I haven't seen you for years!"

"Not since graduation." She smiled. "What are you doing in New York?"

He smiled, "Well I got a new job here, teaching architecture at a local college. Its not NYU or anything but it pays the bills."

"That's awesome."

"Wow." He said again, "How are you? What are you doing?"

"I just moved back home to help a friend out with his hotel business." She said. "Architecture. Really?" She smiled.

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah. I know. I was a geeky math major, but for some reason, after I got my degree instead of getting my Masters in mathematics I went to a design school and got my license. I do houses and condos occasionally for people here. That's sort of how I got the job teaching."

"That sounds awesome!"

He blinked at her a few times with his wide, gorgeous smile, "Can I buy you coffee or something? It's the least I can do after I plowed you down."

Maggie smiled but then remembered the half-corpses all over her home. She frowned, "I'm sorry I cant stay I was picking this up for a few friends and heading home."

He frowned slightly too, "Well damn." He looked thoughtful for a few moments and then looked apprehensive as he formulated his question. "You know, I've only been in town for a few months and its nice to see a familiar face. Do you think we could get together and hang out or something? Maybe catch dinner and you can show this ol'California boy how you real New Yorkers do things."

He was so cheesy that it was awfully charming. Maggie thought for a few seconds and couldn't think of any good reasons to say no. She was about as single as they came so she smiled and nodded. She pulled a pen out of her purse and grabbed his coffee cup, "Try not to lose this." She smiled as she wrote down her number.

He smiled too, a vibrant, attractive thing. "Wow, jeez. This is great. I don't want to creep you out or anything, but maybe we could have dinner tonight? You know, catch up."

Maggie smiled, happy to see an old friend again that was outside of this crazy world she lived in and nodded, "Call me in a few hours after I've had my coffee and woken up a little." She laughed, "I can give you a more coherent answer then."

He smiled and nodded, "Sure, I'd love to." He gave her another great big hug and let her go. He grabbed the coffees and waved, "See you!"

Maggie waved back and walked into the coffee shop, wondering if her life could be any more random. She grabbed the coffees and a few pastries and trekked on home. When she opened the door she found everyone just as she had left them. She smiled and carried all of her stuff into the kitchen and set things up for the boys. She piled all of the pastries onto a plate and carted them plus the coffees over to the dining room table. She grabbed Taylor's coffee and a warm chunk of homemade coffee cake and walked over to where he was laying. She waved it under his nose a few times and saw him slowly perk up.

His eyes were slits but she could see he was staring at her, "Jesus Maggs you look like hell."

She frowned deeply and scoffed, tossing his pastry on the coffee table and slamming his cup down so hard that some of it spilled. "Not like you give a shit," she growled, quite pissed, "I got you some fucking coffee, prick." She stood abruptly and walked into her bedroom. She kicked at Marbles and Matty to wake them up and growled hurriedly at them that they had coffee ready in the dining room. She tore into her bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror.

"Fuck." Her jaw dropped. She _did_ look like shit. Her hair was a bit poofy and she had darker circles around her eyes - no doubt from the lack of sleep she got the night before. She whimpered softly and realized that Arthur was probably not going to call because she looked like the bride of Frankenstein. She sighed dejectedly and dragged her feet as she walked into her main room. The boys already had some sort of sporting event on TV so she just grabbed her coffee and walked out onto her patio. She lit up a cigarette and enjoyed it while she slowly drank her coffee.

She thought absent mindedly about what was going on. She realized that Arthur showing up in her life was a bit random, well actually, extremely random, but she decided she wasn't going to just sit and twiddle her thumbs anymore. She'd start going on dates again and maybe start taking things a little more seriously. She wasn't planning on getting married tomorrow, but she didn't want her biological clock to tick away anymore. She remembered Arthur warmly from college. He was a nice guy who knew how to party. He was one of those men that was friends with almost everyone but he wasn't an egotistical prick. She was pretty confident he didn't have a criminal history and he had nice teeth. She knew he was employed, as a teacher, so he must be patient and determined. However she did look like shit and realized he probably wasn't going to call. She sighed. The pep talk was working on half of her, but the other half was resisting viciously. She was mumbling curses to herself for being such a wretched psycho when a voice shocked her out of her pity party.

"So what the fuck was that about?" Matty said as he slid the door closed.

"What was what about?" She griped, not looking him in the eye.

"The bitchfest in there. At Taylor." Matty pulled out a smoke and inhaled deep. "He just stomped off to the bathroom, muttering obscenities. You're lucky he loves you and he wont beat the living fuck out of you."

Maggie just scoffed, "You're mistaken. I'm _unlucky_ that he loves me. He said I look like shit. It was a fucking dick thing to say to a girl who just bought you coffee and breakfast."

Matty snorted, "Honey you _do_ look like shit."

Maggie just smiled, "Thanks prick. You're welcome for the cozy bed you slept in and the delicious coffee I bought you, jack off."

Matty just laughed and sipped his coffee, "He'll figure it out." He said seriously.

"I'm not sure if I want him to anymore." She muttered, trying to keep her voice from trembling. She _hated_ that Taylor got this reaction out of her. Maggie never cried. Ever. But Taylor Reese comes along and tells her that her socks don't match and she could cry for days.

"What?" Matty said, absolutely astonished.

Just then the sliding glass door opened and Marbles leaned his head out. He smiled at Maggie, "Thanks for the coffee, beautiful."

Maggie smacked Matty's shoulder, "See! A fucking real gentleman!"

Matty just laughed, "Holy shit. That's the first time I've ever heard Marbles called a gentleman."

Marbles scowled and flipped off Matty who just chuckled and finished his cigarette. Matty stepped inside and Marbles came out. He grabbed Maggie's pack from the table and lit one up. He looked at Maggie who was trying to avoid his stare and chuckled.

"What happened to you?" He said.

Maggie just shrugged. "I got asked on a date at the coffee shop. I agreed. Then I come home to have Taylor tell me I look like shit when I got him breakfast."

Marbles just shook his head, "He's fucking dense. You should know that."

Maggie just shrugged pathetically, "Why aren't you yelling at me for having a date?"

Marbles shrugged back, "You deserve it."

Maggie stared up at him in disbelief and he just smiled sweetly. She walked over to him and gave him a huge hug. He wrapped his arms around her and she sighed into his shoulder.

"You do honey." He smiled and kissed her cheek, "Boy, if anyone deserves a real-life date, its you."

Maggie just chuckled, "I've been laid Marbles. Quite recently actually."

Marbles just laughed, "I know that. I don't mean laid. I mean date. You deserve a guy who'll hold your hand and buy you flowers and all that lame shit." Maggie just laughed, "And if it cant be me, and I refuse to see Taylor get you because the shit head doesn't deserve you, it may as well be a guy who has the balls to ask out the most prettiest girl in all of the Tri-city area."

Maggie just laughed again, "Most prettiest?"

He chuckled, "You better believe it."

"So what are you guys up to today?" She asked, pulling back and going for her coffee and cigarette.

"Uh, staying here, watching the game, ruining you for all other men." He smiled, "The usual."

Maggie smiled as well, "Marbles you've already ruined me for all other men."

He winked, "You better believe it." He reached out his hand and Maggie took it, "Let's go honey."

They stubbed out their cigarettes and walked back into the house, hand in hand. The moment they entered, Taylor came out of the restroom, looking a little bit better. His eyes were soft as he looked at Maggie, but instantly hardened when his eyes traveled down her arm and saw her fingers linked with Marbles's. She saw him bristle, and tried to let go of Marbles's hand, but he held tight. Taylor's muscles flexed and he simply pounded towards the couch, grabbed his jacket and left.

Maggie felt like a complete shit. Marbles looked at her to reassure her, but she simply shook her head. She slipped her fingers out of his and walked pitifully towards her room. "I'm gonna take a bath. I'll be out in a few." She said softly and trudged towards her master bath. Both men nodded without a word and watched as she slowly and painfully walked into her room.

"I drove." Matty said, shaking his key ring.

Marbles just chuckled, "Let the fucker walk. He needs to not be so possessive of her. He'll need to let her go soon."

Matty's eyebrows knitted and he looked towards Marbles, "What's that mean?"

Marbles just shrugged and sipped his coffee, "Nothin' man." Matty didn't believe him.

* * *

Maggie immersed herself in the hot water. Her entire body prickled at the contrast but it felt wonderful. She tried to get the steaming water to loosen her muscles but it barely worked. Her eyes felt wetter than usual, but she promised herself she wouldn't cry.

_One tear,_ She thought to herself_, only one more tear for Taylor Reese and not a god damned milliliter more._

After the tear fell she regained composure. She realized that she did not have any claim on Taylor so that meant he had no claim on her. She would not stand on the side any longer, waiting patiently for him to grow a pair. She would love him, probably for the rest of her life, but she would no longer be pathetic little girl waiting for Taylor Reese to ask her to prom. She let herself soak in the tub for a few more minutes and sunk under. She let the hot water sizzle her skin and release any tension she had left over.

She finished her bathing ritual, which was only about five minutes long and got out of the tub. She dried off quickly, letting her hair dry naturally and pulled on a pair of old sweats from school and a tank top.

She made her way out into the front room and it was deserted, but clean. She smiled, thanking God for small favors and went to put her coffee in the microwave.

Marbles had left a note on the counter:

_We cleaned up. Matty had some shit to do - like tame the beast. Call me later. I want details. Love you._

She smiled and threw the little note away. She grabbed her coffee and a pastry and sat down on the couch. She didn't remember watching any thing other than _Hot Fuzz_ last night, so she put in _Die Hard_ and melted at the sight of Bruce Willis.

The movie ended with Maggie successfully sedated and sprawled across her living room furniture. She was slowly started to get up and change the movie when she heard her cell phone rattling on the glass coffee table. She reached for it and looked at the read out.

_Private Number_.

She briefly thought of mass genocide if it were a telemarketer but answered anyways.

"Hello?" She chimed.

"Hi, is this Maggie?" A male said from the other line.

"Yes, who is this?"

"Ha, how soon we forget." He chuckled, "Its Arthur."

She smiled, "I knew that."

He just laughed over the line, "So are we feeling better now that we've ingested enough caffeine to kill a small bovine?"

Maggie smiled at that, "Yes, much better."

"That's nice to hear," His voice was smooth and sweet and Maggie enjoyed hearing it in her ear.

"How are you doing?" She said, stifling a yawn and sitting up straight on the couch.

"Fine now that I'm done with my meeting. I just sat through almost three hours of some rich brat whining to her father about her condo being remodeled properly. The girl's only seventeen and her clothes cost more than my vehicle." He mumbled, "But aside from the lifestyles of the rich and famous, I'm good. So do you recall my proposition this morning, or should I repeat it to the caffeinated brain?"

Maggie liked that he openly teased her like that. It was nice to be talked to like a human being and not a walking vagina. "Yes I do recall a pathetic attempt at a pick up this morning."

"Oh," He said feigning hurt, "That was my best one too. Mowing down pretty little blondes and asking them out while they possibly have concussions."

"Oh, I see," Maggie smiled, "So is that usually your type? Drooling and cross-eyed."

"Absolutely not," he said repugnantly. "I prefer to not limit myself to specifics. Usually _conscious_ will do."

Maggie laughed hard at that one, "Well I'm glad I fit the bill. So what were you thinking of tonight?"

"Well I didn't know how classy you were, recalling that your nick name was _Mad Dog_ back in college and I believe you were the only female to ever threaten the referee-slash-Dean of students that you would, and I quote _saw his balls of with your plastic cleats_ if he made any further shitty calls." He paused, "I was thinking maybe mud wrestling, a rodeo, cow tipping..."

"Har har," Maggie said sarcastically, "Though the last one is rather enticing."

"I bet. Wanna have a few bottles of Bud and see how many cows we can find within New York state limits?"

Maggie laughed again, "I'm sure that's what you usually offer your dates."

"Usually it's my dad's rusty 4x4's back seat and a grip of Vaseline, but I figured you stopped doing it in the backseats of trucks after you graduated college."

She smiled, "Yes, I only bone in the finest of luxury vehicles and it must be KY or I shant return his call."

She heard his hearty laugh over the line and felt her smile grow. She forgot how much fun Arthur was back in school. He was always very good at making her laugh. "Hmm, I'll have to remember that one. Maybe my mom will let me borrow her Taurus. That's luxury, right?" Maggie just laughed. "Well I'm assuming you're still basically the same crazy girl I used to know back in school. So how about a relaxing dinner and then out to a dive bar with karaoke or something."

"That sounds like the best night I'll possibly ever have."

"I know what could make it a definite." He said, his voice lowered and enticing.

Maggie bit the bait, "Oh yeah?" She said breathily, "How's that?"

"I'll sing you some Bon Jovi to seal the deal." He growled in a sexy voice that she knew was mocking.

She bit her lip to keep from laughing, "I'll do some Britney Spears and shake my ass for you."

"Shit, that was my next offer."

Maggie started laughing again, "Alright Arthur, what time do you want to pick me up then?"

"How about seven?" He said.

"Sounds perfect." Maggie smiled. "I'll see you then."

"Oh and Maggie?"

"Uh huh?"

"Be casual and comfortable. I'd recommend some jeans too. It's supposed to be cold tonight."

"Ummm, k?"

And he hung up.


	7. Chapter 6

**-6-**

Maggie started getting ready about 6:30 p.m. She pulled on a pair of expensive jeans she had found at a thrift store, slipped on a pair of tie-dyed chucks she'd made a few years back, and slid on one of her favorite shirts. It was made out of soft linen and had an intricate design of eyelet lace all over the bodice and along the hem. A simple yellow camisole was underneath so it wasn't see-through and she wore a grey zippered hoodie over it.

She looked very _cute_. In order to keep herself from looking twelve she put on some light make up. Lining her eyes with smoky eye liner and putting on a few extra coats of mascara to make her eyes more noticeable and running her fingers through her hair letting it hang loose and untamed. She grabbed a hair band just in case she wanted it tied back later.

7:00 p.m. rolled around and she was ready about two minutes before her doorbell rang. She turned off her lights, grabbed her phone and her purse and made her way to the door. She opened it and there stood Arthur. She had to admit he looked amazing in a sports jacket over a white button down shirt and jeans.

"Wow," Arthur said, "I mean, uh, hi." He smiled sheepishly.

"I could say the same for you." She smiled and began walking out of her door.

"Oh you're ready?" He asked, rather confused.

"What do you mean _are you ready_? Do I need further improvements?" She asked, feigning anger.

He rolled his eyes and just smiled in his adorable way, "No, I just mean we're on time. I don't think that's ever happened to me on a date before."

Maggie laughed as she locked her door and pocketed her keys, "What can I say, I'm punctual." She smiled. "You look, so," She eyed him up and down, "Grown up."

He tilted his head back and laughed loudly at that, "Well gee thanks. Glad I could impress. However, standing next to you all night is gonna be a hassle. I hate when I'm not the hottest person in the restaurant."

She walked so close to him that she could inhale his scent. It was enticing; "I can put the napkin over my face and cut eye holes for it, like a burka." She quipped.

He stopped and stared at her wide-eyed, "Would you? I love oppressing women!" He chimed excitedly.

Maggie laughed hysterically and shoved him softly. He stumbled slightly but regained his footing as they made the path down to where he was parked.

"So I was wondering -," Arthur started.

Maggie's phone started vibrating, "I'm so sorry. Just one moment." She pulled out her cell and contemplated throwing into a ravine, but wasn't sure where the closest one was. She was even more tempted when she saw Taylor's name pop up on the screen.

"Damnit," She muttered and flipped it open. She mouthed _sorry_, to Arthur and he just smiled and stood patiently. "Hey Tay." Arthur's eyebrow rose.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Uh," There was a pregnant pause where Maggie's mind literally went blank. She had never been on a real _date_ with someone. Not since maybe high school or early college and Taylor definitely didn't know about those. She didn't snap out of it until Arthur waved his hand in front of her eyes and she jolted back to life. "Stuff."

"Stuff?" Taylor asked skeptically.

"Yeah Taylor I'm kinda busy." She muttered. She covered the mouth piece and nodded to Arthur, "Where's your car?" She said softly. She didn't want to give Taylor enough time to make his way over and potentially kick the ever-living fuck out of Arthur.

"That was my question before we were so rudely interrupted." He said jokingly, "I was going to ask if you had ever been on a bike?" He gestured to, potentially, the hottest looking all black Ducati Street fighter S she had ever seen.

She was so blown away that her hand fell away from the phone, even though it was still up against her ear, "Oh my god. That is the sexiest thing I've ever seen. I might have just had an orgasm." She said. Directly into the phone.

"WHAT!? WHO ARE YOU WITH?" Taylor was yelling into the phone.

Arthur just started laughing hysterically. He was literally bent over, using his knees as extra support as he guffawed loudly. He straightened up but kept chuckling, "Behave!" He pointed at her sternly.

"MAGGIE!" Taylor bellowed into the phone.

Maggie was still staring at the Ducati, most likely drooling. "Tay, I gotta go." She muttered softly and hung up her phone. Momentarily, all she really cared about was straddling that beautiful machine and wrapping her arms around such a gorgeous guy. Thoughts of Taylor and his murderous rage were miles away.

"So," Arthur smiled, jingling his key ring, "You ready?"

"Am I ever!?" She yelped happily and skipped over to his motorcycle. "Can I drive it?"

He smiled, "You ever driven a motorcycle before?"

"In theory?" She said, wincing. "Um, no."

Arthur just laughed, "I'll drive tonight, but don't think I wont give you lessons. I just wanna start out on something easier than beaming through New York City traffic."

She grimaced, "Good plan." She looked down at herself and realized she would most likely freeze to death. She'd have to buy a kick ass leather jacket if she continued to date him.

"Here." He smiled. He held out a leather jacket that was lying on the back on the motorcycle.

"What will you wear?" She looked up at him.

He just smiled. He tugged on his black sports jacket. "I've got about three layers on. I'll be fine."

Maggie smiled widely, still ogling the gorgeous bike. "You might have to help me. I'm slightly impaired."

He laughed and helped her slide on the jacket. It was obviously way too big for her, but it kept her warm the instant she zipped it up. Arthur grabbed his helmet and an extra one he'd brought along and handed it to Maggie. She twisted her hair up and tucked it into the helmet as Arthur pulled his on.

"You look great." He chuckled. She realized the helmet had a microphone and a speaker in it. His voice was slightly amplified.

"Don't laugh at me." She groused. "I'm not accustomed to men on motorcycles."

"Only backseats of pick ups, am I right?" He smiled and straddled the bike.

She stood there for a moment, pretending to be angry but really just trying to contain her lust. "I'm glad you can't see me sticking my tongue out at you."

She assumed Arthur was smiling, "I have a built in immaturity sensor." He paused and then flicked the eyepiece up, "Climb on up."

Maggie giggled slightly and ran over to the bike. She threw her leg over the back and Arthur turned slightly and adjusted her so that her ass and feet were in the right place.

"So you can either sit up and hold onto the bar right behind your ass or you can lean forward and wrap your arms around me. For a first timer, I'd recommend the second one. Plus I just like to snuggle." He said sweetly.

Maggie chuckled and tucked her purse between her thighs. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Arthur. She felt a muscular stomach beneath his button down shirt and desperately wanted to feel more. "I'm feeling giddy." She said honestly.

Arthur chuckled softly, letting his fingers trace over her hands grasped around his stomach, "You could say that again." Before the awkward silence could ensue Arthur turned over his bike and it roared to life.

"This is SO cool!" Maggie squealed with delight.

"Just wait until we start moving." He said softly, "You ready?" She nodded against his back. "I'll take that as a yes. Hold on."

He revved the engine, did something magical with his hands and feet and they tore off into the night. Maggie screamed a little, for which she apologized for profusely. It scared the living hell out of Arthur, who didn't realize that sometimes girls just scream when they are excited.

The ride was fabulous. She watched as the lights blurred in her vision as they tore down the road. She was pretty sure they were going at a normal speed, but everything felt so much more vibrant. Maggie assumed it was her adrenaline, pulsing through her body. It made her much more sensitive and she was hyper aware and the roaring beast between her thighs, the wind whipping over her body, and the warmth that emitted from Arthur.

They talked idly for a few minutes, but Arthur understood how intense your first motorcycle ride could be so he finally shut up. Aside from the helmets having mics for them to talk, it also played music over the speakers. So he switched on "Shake me like a Monkey" by Dave Matthews Band.

Maggie almost squealed again, "Oh my God, you like Dave?"

"I have to say I'm semi-homosexually in love with him."

Maggie just laughed, "Its ok, I'm completely heterosexually in love with him."

"See that still just sounds so much more normal."

Maggie smiled, "How long have you liked him?"

Arthur shrugged as they zoomed through traffic with the music playing behind their voices, "Since my sophomore year in high school. I had older siblings who listened to him so I've been hearing him all my life. It wasn't until I was a little older that I really understood him and caught the fever."

"I know exactly what you mean, that's basically what happened to me. Seen him live?"

Arthur laughed, "You'll think I'm crazy but, I've seen him every year since I first started listening to him."

Maggie giggled again, "Not at all! I've seen him that many times too! He's amazing!" she sighed.

Arthur laughed, "Well now at least I have someone who will go to concerts with me. Now I wont look so creepy, drinking my beer and dancing around in my tie dyed DMB shirts." Maggie laughed loudly at that. "Alright, we're here." He pulled up slowly and parked almost directly in front of a dive-looking bar.

Arthur shut off the engine and climbed off. He helped Maggie slide off. She had to admit her legs were still a little jell-o-fied from the intense ride over. She smiled as she leaned against Arthur.

"You know if we weren't wearing these fucking helmets this might have been romantic." He pulled off his helmet and helped Maggie with hers.

She smiled up at him, "Romantic? I figured you more for a roophie in the drink type of guy."

He unzipped the jacket for her and leaned in slowly. He kissed her lightly on the cheek, something that sent sparks through Maggie's body. "What can I say, I'm trying to put the _sensual_ back in _nonconsensual_."

Maggie screeched at him and hit him hard on the shoulder, trying hard not to laugh hysterically. Arthur just couldn't stop laughing. "Creep!"

He kept on laughing, "Awe, come on baby. You'll sleep great after!...and before...and during." He nudged her shoulder suggestively.

Maggie couldn't help herself and started laughing. Arthur helped her out of her jacket and took her helmet. They walked up to the front of the bar, which had a very large and very dark man standing in the doorway. Arthur nodded to the man and handed their stuff over.

"Evening Mr. Arthur."

Arthur nodded, "Evening Sam."

Maggie stared a little in disbelief as they waltzed right into the bar and she realized that establishment was rather nice for resembling such a dive. It had a relaxing atmosphere and it was huge. The front half of the restaurant was a small waiting area with tables and booths behind it, behind that was a rather large dance floor and a small stage.

"This place is pretty cool. When does karaoke start?" Maggie smiled, slipping out of her white jacket and hanging on the back of her seat.

"Within the hour." He smiled.

"They have good food?" She asked as she sat down. He helped push in her chair and walked around to his own seat. He pulled of his jacket and did the same thing she did with hers.

"Very good food. There's a very basic menu, but incredibly good. Lots of cheese, butter, fats and weird sizzling juices." He smiled, "I'm pretty sure they don't serve salad."

"I hate salad. Its like eating wet paper." Maggie groused. She watched as Arthur motioned to the bartender and she smiled, "So you think all I eat are salads? Was that a hint?"

Arthur laughed, "Someone is fishing for compliments." He smiled, "No I was saying that because I need to watch how much I eat or it will go straight to my hips."

Maggie laughed, "I watched as you got off the bike. Maybe you need some more in the hip department."

Arthur gave her a sad face and sniffled, "I was just trying to look nice for you." He said in a mock-sobbing way.

"Its ok baby," Maggie said, patting his hand, "I'll just find someone with a better ass."

Arthur laughed and pointed at her, "Wait till you see me work Bon Jovi and _then_ we'll talk."

Maggie smiled. "Sounds good." A waitress brought them a beer each. Arthur was drinking a Pyramid Hefeweizen and the waitress put out a Modelo Negro for Maggie. She looked over at Arthur who was just smiling. "Are you stalking me? How do you know I like Modelo?"

He laughed, "In all honesty its what you smelled like this morning."

Maggie slapped her forehead in shame, "Oh dear god. I'm so sorry. Why did you ask me out? Do you have like a hobo-erotic fantasy or something?"

"While I admit that hobos are definitely an interesting set of people, I have to say that it was just nice to see you. I don't get out too much because I don't know too many people around here and it was cool to see a familiar face." He smiled, sipping his beer.

Maggie smiled, "Ok. But just so you know I'm not always that disgusting in the morning. I blame it on my friends."

Arthur's eyes were saying something along the lines of_ I plan to find out for myself_, but his smile was genuine and sweet. "No problem. Like I said. Hobos are interesting people."

"Ok so what do you recommend eating?" She said, looking at the half page entry for food and the three and a half page menu for booze.

"Probably the open face steak sandwich or the BLT." He smiled. "The cheeseburger, the French dip, and the Reuben are delicious. But those other two are my favorite." He waved his hand again and a waitress came on over. She was older and had heaps of shimmering red hair piled on top of her head. Her face was heavily made up, but attractive, and she had breasts that rivaled the size of Maggie's head.

"Hiya Arthur," She said. "And whose this pretty girl?" her New York accent was thick, "I'm Eva."

Maggie smiled and shook the outstretched woman's hand, "Pleasure. I'm Maggie, an old friend from school."

"Well it's a pleasure!" Eva looked pleased. "What'll'ya be havin' tonight?"

"The Reuben, please." Maggie smiled, "And can I also get a glass of water?" Eva nodded as she scribbled on her pad and then looked to Arthur.

"I'll have the BLT, please." He smiled.

"Anything for you sugar." She winked and then left the table.

Maggie looked at Arthur expectantly but he just shrugged and smiled, "Sugar?" She laughed.

Arthur nodded. "I know the owner. I designed the place."

Maggie looked shocked, "Really? Wow, that's pretty cool."

He smiled and sipped his beer, "Yes. Pretty cool."

The food came and went as well as a few more beers. More and more people were starting to show up, so Maggie and Arthur moved over towards the dance floor and karaoke stage. They found a small table where they perched with their drinks as people started signing up for Karaoke.

"So are you gonna sing or what?" Maggie smiled.

Arthur chuckled as he sipped his beer, "Yes I'm going to sing. But you have to sing first."

Maggie looked astonished, "First?" She screeched. "Why?"

Arthur laughed, "Cause I paid for dinner and gave you a ride here."

Maggie scowled at him, "Well it looks like we'll be taking a cab home drunkie." Maggie growled.

Arthur just laughed, "Once we start singing I stop drinking. I want to remember the night." He smiled and winked.

"Prick."

He reached across the table and took her hand in his. He pulled it to his lips and gave it a light, sweet kiss, "I love it when you talk dirty to me." He said jokingly.

Maggie rolled her eyes and pulled back her hand, "Alright, well I'm signing you up for a song of my choice then!"

Arthur laughed, "Be my guest. I have no shame."

Maggie glared at him, "We'll see about that."

He smiled and winked again as she ran over to the karaoke DJ and signed her and Arthur up for a song. She made her way back to her seat, which was now scooted closer to Arthur. She looked up at him and smiled wryly, "Smooth."

He smiled back, "You have no idea. I got moves so smooth they call me...uh, smooth." He shrugged and laughed.

She joined in on his laugh and sat down next to him. He put his arm around her, watching for her reaction. Maggie snuggled into his side and pulled her beer closer. They watched a few people go up to the stage and sing a few songs. Most people weren't that bad, but the majority were horrible and drunk. They had a few great laughs at other people's expense and Arthur switched from beers to water. Maggie slowed down a little and continued with her slow ingestion of Modelo Negro.

"Alright," The DJ announced, "Next up is Maggie, with 'Every Little Thing she does is Magic' by The Police."

Arthur nudged Maggie and pushed her towards the stage. She walked by the DJ who handed her the mic and she walked up on stage. The music started and Maggie felt the first tiny tendrils of fear curl in her stomach. She was about to do something horribly embarrassing in front of fifty or so people that she didn't know, including her very attractive date. She sighed, and when the words came up she sang them.

Arthur sat, watching Maggie from his seat. She seemed extremely nervous so he started cheering her on and singing aloud with her. That got more people involved in the club and soon people were dancing as she sang.

Maggie felt a little better as she watched Arthur prance around the dance floor, flinging his body all over the place and getting more people involved in the song. It was very hard to not sing and laugh at the same time, but she threw herself into The Police like no one else had ever done.

When her song finished the crowd cheered and she handed her mic off to the DJ and pranced down to the dance floor where Arthur pulled her into his arms and spun her around.

"You're not that drunk are you?" Maggie laughed as he squeezed her to him.

"You were great! Everyone loved you!" He said smiling. "And no I'm not drunk. I act like this on an everyday basis." Maggie laughed and the DJ lowered the music a little more and made his next announcement.

"Next is Arthur with 'Like a Virgin' by Madonna?" The DJ sounded confused.

Arthur grabbed Maggie and gave her a quick noogie before he ran over to the DJ and grabbed the mic. He made his way onto the stage and said into the microphone, ever so sweetly, "This is for Maggie." He pointed right at her and everyone started cheering. Maggie blushed, and smiled.

Arthur turned around before the music started, his back facing the audience, and when the music started, he started bouncing his hips to the beat. Girls were already cheering him on and people made their way onto the dance floor.

When the words started, Arthur made a quick about face and started singing. He was absolutely hamming it up and Maggie loved it. He used the whole stage as a dance floor, singing his heart out to Madonna and doing pelvic thrusts on all the most poignant parts.

Maggie was laughing hysterically and dancing by her table. A younger man grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor while Arthur played the crowd up. Everyone was cheering and singing along, dancing all over the place. Arthur was dancing all over the stage, winking at screaming women and shaking his ass all over the stage. Maggie couldn't help but watch him and be enthralled. He wasn't a particularly good singer or dancer, but he could sure work the room.

When the song ended, the crowd erupted in cheers. Arthur tossed his mic to the DJ and hopped off the stage. He made his way back over to Maggie as people cheered him on and gave him high fives and pats on the back.

"How'd I do?" Arthur smiled when he reached Maggie.

Maggie just laughed and gave him a huge hug, "You were amazing. I was so jealous!"

He winked at her, "What can I say, without _me_ its just _aweso._"

She shook her head and smacked his shoulder, "You are such a goofball."

"To the bone." He smiled. He grabbed her hand and entwined his fingers with hers. Maggie got a little flashback about what Marbles had said to her. "Lets get another drink." He smiled and took her over to the bar.

The night finally slowed down a few hours later. Arthur had completely sobered up after quite a few Bon Jovi songs and Maggie was feeling a little buzzed but not too much. She had sang her fair share of Queen songs and some Nsync songs, just to bug all the men in the bar, but it seemed like these two were quite popular at the bar. Especially after their duet rendition of "Anyway you Want it" by Journey.

They were currently gliding through the night, or rather morning, since it was about 2:30 a.m. Maggie had her arms wrapped around Arthur and the music was off in her ears, but he was humming and it was very relaxing to her. She was surprised how great the night had gone. She had spent her entire night with a man without having sex once. She wasn't completely smashed. She was comfortable around Arthur and he made her laugh, a lot. He was extremely sweet and good-natured and very sociable. She liked being around him because he didn't get weird when she made new friends. He wasn't possessive or jealous when she danced all over the stage and men cheered for her. He simply sat back and watched her, smiling the whole time.

She would have thought he was gay except for the looks he gave her when he thought she wasn't looking. A few times his brown eyes smoldered and his smile turned from sweet to sexy. When he got that look, Maggie felt like she was staring at the roaring motorbike again. It could be harmless and nice looking while stationary, but when the engine turned on, it made her quiver.

They rolled to stop in front of her condo and Arthur helped her off of her seat. He grabbed the helmet and unzipped her jacket and walked her to her door. They stopped in the doorway and he grabbed her keys and opened her door for her.

Maggie smiled at the simple gesture. She walked inside without saying a word and Arthur hesitated at the door, "Come on in. I don't bite." She laughed.

"Bummer." He chuckled and followed her in. She went to her kitchen and brought out two bottles of water and some snacks from the fridge. Both of them were a little sweaty from dancing for around four hours straight, so the water felt very nice sliding down their throats.

"So..." Maggie said slowly. "I haven't had a real date in a long time." She said shyly.

Arthur chuckled, "I find that hard to believe."

She laughed, "I've had my share of men, I just haven't spent much time with them." She shrugged.

Arthur smiled, "That's cool. I feel special. I'm the only one who has karaoke'd with you. I think that's way more satisfying than a night full of balls to the wall sex. Unless that's what you're into." He shrugged, winking at her playfully.

Maggie laughed again. Her cheeks hurt from laughing all night. Arthur was just _fun_ to be around. There was no denying that she was insanely attracted to him and was very interested in what he was like in the bedroom, however she felt odd sleeping with him on the first date. She wanted to see him again, many times in fact. She didn't want it to be a one-night thing.

As if he read her mind, he stood from his seat at the island and walked around to her. He moved in front of her and placed his hands on the counter, enclosing her in his arms. He leaned forward slightly and kissed her softly on the lips. Maggie liked it very much.

"I don't want to rush things with you. So don't feel pressured about this. I like you. I've always liked you. Hell, a man would be crazy not to like you." He paused and kissed her gently again, "I plan on leaving tonight. But it's mostly because I want to keep you yearning for my sweet, sweet ass." He laughed and Maggie joined in. She got on her tiptoes and kissed him softly again. He looked down at her and smiled.

"Thanks." She said, blushing. "I want you to stay, but I'm a little new at this _liking_ a guy thing."

He laughed, "Only someone as charming as me could break your stone cold heart." Maggie laughed too and stood up to kiss him again. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her very close to him, deepening the kiss without being overly intrusive. His fingers were running through her hair when she heard the lock to her front door click open.

They stopped kissing in an instant and Arthur took a step back from her as Matty, Marbles and Chris thundered through the front door laughing.

"I didn't make you keys yet!" Maggie growled at them.

They all stopped and stared at her. Matty looked a little upset, but Chris and Marbles were smiling widely, nodding to each other. That's when Taylor came in behind them, looking rather predatory.

Arthur stepped forward with balls of steel and introduced himself. "Hey guys, I'm Arthur. I went to college with Maggie and we ran into each other today and decided to get together." He shook hands with all the guys and they introduced themselves, except for Taylor he just shook Arthur's hand and glared at him.

"Don't mind him," Matty said, "He has no soul."

Maggie laughed nervously, watching as Taylor burned holes through Arthur. "What the fuck are you doing here?" She said in a sweet voice laced with hatred.

Matty chuckled, "Just coming to check on you. You didn't answer our phone calls."

Maggie pulled out her phone and saw that she had twenty-six missed calls. She gave an exasperated sigh, "Leave a voice mail! Jesus! Twenty-six! What is _wrong_ with you!?" She growled.

"Well who the fuck is he? We don't know him from fuckin Adam and you are off with him all night. Not answering our calls." Taylor said gravely. "You need to fuckin let us know what you're doing."

Everyone was silent as Maggie changed shades of red, "You asshole!" She screamed.

"Don't fuckin' call me that."

Arthur interjected, trying to make peace, "Hey, I'm an old friend, she took me out -,"

"Shut it." Taylor growled pointing a big meaty finger at him.

Arthur puffed up slightly, "Don't talk to me like that." His voice went steely and even Maggie was taken back by it. "And definitely don't talk to her like that."

Taylor took a few steps forward and Maggie stepped in front of him and pushed him back, "Knock it off!" She growled. Taylor grabbed her hands to keep from pushing her and Arthur charged forward. "No!" Maggie yelled at him and Arthur instantly stopped. "I can handle him." She growled angrily and pushed Taylor off of her. Matty, Marbles, and Chris stepped back, all inhaling sharply. Maggie never talked to Taylor like that.

Arthur just laughed, "Personally, I wouldn't want to mess with you like this. I'll just take off."

Matty put up a hand, "No, don't worry about it we were just getting out of here. We've known her forever so we like to make sure she's safe."

Arthur smiled, still avoiding being awkward, "I'd be the same way." He smiled at Maggie. He walked over to her and kissed her on the lips very softly. "I'll call you tomorrow. Maybe we can get lunch and you can tell me about the new job."

She smiled, "Sounds great." Taylor tensed in front of her.

Arthur kissed her again and walked by the guys, waving goodbye, "Night guys." He still ignored Taylor's ice-cold glare.

The door closed and the men erupted with questions.

"No!" Maggie screamed, "No God damnit! I will NOT answer your questions when you fuck heads just thoroughly cock blocked me with a nice fucking guy! Why cant you interrupt my other dates that suck?"

All the men went pale. Taylor was still flexing and unflexing his muscles. His jaw was tensed.

"And you!" She screeched pointing a small finger at Taylor and glaring at him, "How _dare_ you talk to me like that! I can't believe you have the fucking nerve to treat me like that in front of my fucking friend!"

Taylor scoffed, "He looked like more than a fuckin friend."

She slapped him, hard, the men all took another step back and Taylor was thoroughly shocked, "You have no fucking claim to me Taylor Reese, so stop acting like it." She pushed him out of the way and tore towards her bedroom as the boys cleared out of her way. "I'm getting my gun, and if all of you aren't gone when I get back out here I'm shooting whoever hasn't left in the ass!" She slammed her door.

"She doesn't have a gun, right?" Marbles asked innocently.

Matty just stared at him in uncertainty. They heard some rustling behind her door and the sound of drawers being opened and shut. "Well fuck finding out the hard way." He said. He grabbed Taylor who was still standing in the same spot and dragged him out of the house with Chris and Marbles bringing up the tail.

Maggie came out a few minutes later with her make up cried and washed away and donning a pair of sweats and a tank top. She grabbed her pack of cigarettes and another beer and reached for her cell phone. It was about 3:30 a.m. and she thought about calling Arthur and apologizing, but couldn't build up the courage. She felt the tears coming on again and almost didn't hear her phone vibrating.

She picked it up and saw that the number was private. "Hello?" She answered meekly.

"Hey, did I wake you?" It was Arthur.

She almost sobbed, "God, I'm so sorry! I can't believe Taylor treated you like that. I'm so so-,"

He cut her off, "Please, don't apologize. If I were your best friend forever, I'd be a complete asshole to any guys interested in you too. Although I might lay off the steroids a bit, roid-rage can be a bitch."

Maggie laughed, "God I'm so surprised you called."

He chuckled too, "It's not your fault they're protective. They just need to see I'm not a jerk just trying to get laid."

"You're not?" Maggie sighed.

"No, I'm just using you for those tasty crackers you put out tonight." He said jokingly.

Maggie chuckled, "Thanks."

"No problem." He said sweetly. "Now get some sleep. I want to go get breakfast tomorrow. We can ever wear the same clothes we wore last night so people think we slept together." He laughed.

Maggie giggled, "Should I carry last nights underwear in my hand?"

"I'll be sure to stain my pants."

Maggie laughed loudly at that. "Alright, what time?"

"How about ten, is that enough sleep for you?" Arthur said.

"Yes, that should be fine. And since you're the one who got harassed tonight, I'll buy breakfast."

"Sweet, maybe I can get some pity sex."

Maggie laughed, "You didn't get punched. Don't be such a puss."

Arthur sighed dramatically, "Ok, punch equals sex. I'll remember that next time." There was a short pause, "Good night Maggie. Sleep well."

"Night Arthur." She sighed. "You too."

He hung up and Maggie tried not to be too excited. If he didn't get scared away by Taylor of all people, he could probably handle anything. She finished her cigarette and beer, allowing herself to relax a little.

She received a text from Matty saying:

_Taylor's on a tirade. He feels really bad._

Maggie growled at her phone and texted back, rather angrily:

_He SHOULD be. Goodnight. I wont be home tomorrow morning. Don't bother coming over. I'll call you when I'm not so pissed off._

And she turned off her phone and went to bed.


	8. Chapter 7

_**YAAAAAY! An update! I'm SO sorry this took so long....It really shouldn't have. I finished classes this semester, I'm working, I moved....Shit, I've been busy!!! Thank you for the encouraging reviews, I'm SO sorry this took so long. I'm going to try to keep it better updated over the next month or so - cause THANKFULLY I have some time off. Whoo hoo!!**_

* * *

**-7-**

After seeing each other a few more times, Maggie and Arthur started to date exclusively. Something that Maggie hadn't really done since high school. She couldn't get over how sweet the guy was. He could roll with the punches, give and take shit from anyone, he was tough without being overly macho, and still at the core he was just a nice guy.

All the boys, except Taylor of course, allowed Arthur into their circle. They were viciously protective of Maggie, serving Arthur with veiled threats about twice every half hour, but he took it with grace and understanding. He was simply good-natured and even tried to be kind to Taylor despite his obviously aggressive behavior.

Maggie didn't like the fact that Taylor had estranged himself from almost everyone except Matty - especially her. He spent most of his nights drinking, fighting, and fucking - even more so than usual. She was concerned and tried to talk to Matty about it but he blew her off, saying that Taylor just got his ass kicked by life and that he'd figure it out.

Maggie didn't like Taylor's usual resolution to his problems: booze, violence, or sex. She was afraid that he may hurt himself, something she felt guilty about, because she worried about Arthur's safety second. However, Arthur seemed a bit more balanced and able to cope with stress. She didn't understand how such a nice guy fell into her lap. Maybe it was Karma.

About a month or two had passed with Arthur and the new job in her life, and Maggie was thrilled. Things were starting to get back on track and she felt slightly more in control of things. Her relationship with Arthur was developing well - even though they still had not had sex, something neither he nor she could explain why not. The job was fantastic. She had free reign over a beautiful and flourishing hotel in the heart of the city, and was enjoying every minute of it.

She was just closing out on another day when Benny came through her office door. He was one of the few people who had keys.

She looked up from some menial paper work and smiled. He returned her smile brightly. "How's it going kid?"

"Just fine. Finishing up some expense reports. The hotel is flourishing - as if you didn't know - and the staff is happy. For someone so devious this is a really well rounded place, Benny." She smiled.

Benny chuckled, "How's the boy?"

"He's good. We're actually a functional couple. It's a little strange, but nice at the same time." She chuckled.

He sat down across from her desk, "That's great kid, you deserve it."

She shrugged, "I just wish everyone thought so."

"Is Matty giving him shit? I'll whap that boy aside the fuckin he-,"

Maggie put up her hand, "No, not Matty. Everyone has taken to him actually. I mean, he's really sociable and funny so it's easy to like him. Its just Taylor." As if that explained it all.

"Ah," Benny sighed. He pulled out a cigar and lit it up, not bothering to ask permission, cause hell, he was fuckin' Benny Chains. No one said no to him. "He'll figure it out."

She sighed, "I'm getting real tired of hearing that." She put down her pen and closed the folder. _I'm not sure why I'm talking to Benny about this._

Benny chuckled silently, the kind of laugh that just wheezes out and shakes your shoulders, "Yeah. But one day it might be true." Maggie laughed. "Say, we're having a get together at Scarpa's tonight. Will you be there?"

She thought about it. She wanted to go and see everyone, maybe bring Arthur and give him a chance to meet her _family_. But she also didn't want him to have to deal with a drunk Taylor. For that matter, _she_ didn't want to deal with a drunk Taylor. "I don't know. I have a lot of work to get done." She said lamely.

Benny rose an eyebrow and just stared at her, smoking his cigar, "You give me that shit and I'll fire you for being a tight ass." He said seriously. The grim look on his face faded and he smiled, "You're dad will be there. He needs to meet Arthur. All of your _dads_ do." He laughed.

She smiled weakly, "Ok, what time?"

"Eight. It's a black tie sort of thing. So buy yourself something pretty, on me." He handed her the AmEx Black card.

Now in all of Maggie's life she had never been remotely vain or materialistic, but holding this limitless expense in the palm of her hand made her girlish instincts tremble. She looked up at Benny with shock on her face and he smiled. She looked back down at the card and realized it had her name on it.

"No way!" She squealed.

"You work for me, you gotta live in style sweetie." He laughed. "Now you can use that for normal expenses and such like groceries and gas and shit, but I want you to have a few nights of fun on me." He winked.

"I cant -,"

"Shut it." He said, standing up. "Get a nice dress, get your hair done, be girly." And he left.

Maggie was still holding the credit card in her hand as if it would disappear if she grasped it any tighter. She gave herself a few moments to jump around like a twelve year old and then she grabbed her phone.

She didn't know who she could call. She didn't _have_ any girlfriends to speak of and none that she went shopping with and to the beauty parlor. So she called Marbles.

"What's up chicken butt?" He said into her ear.

"Wanna do something completely emasculating?" She said squeakily.

He sighed, "Do I have to get naked?"

She laughed, "No but I'll unintentionally on purpose let you see me in my underwear."

"I'm listening." He said soberly.

"I need to go shopping and I have no girlfriends. You love me enough to tell me if my ass looks fat, right?"

Marbles laughed, "Yes. And if it looks great can I squeeze it?"

She smiled, "For shopping with me, of course!"

Another sigh, "I'll pick you up in an hour." And he hung up.

She giggled excitedly and then dialed Arthur's number.

"And what do I owe this pleasure gorgeous?"

"I'm positively giddy right now."

He chuckled, "Yeah, I have that affect on women."

She smiled, "I just got an AmEx Black card from Benny."

"The one made out of titanium or some shit?" He said breathily.

"Yes!"

"Well sugar momma, where are you taking me for dinner?" He laughed.

Maggie giggled, "Well I'll reserve that for another night, tonight, we have a party to go to. You have a suit?"

He sighed, "Of course I have a suit."

"Ok, you want a new one?"

He laughed, "I'm sure one of my suits will be fine."

She smiled, "Damn. Ok, well I'm going shopping for a dress to wear tonight. I'm also gonna get my hair and nails _did_ and be positively girly."

He chuckled, "Who with?"

"Marbles." She smiled, "I promised him I'd let him see me in my underwear. Now that you're around he doesn't get to sleep with me anymore."

"Ugh, I'm such a cock block!"

Maggie laughed, "I'll swing by around 6:45? I don't think we can take the Ducati tonight."

"Awe! I thought it would be the epitome of class to hike up your gown in order to straddle the motorcycle!"

"You would." She chuckled.

A dramatic sigh, "Alright. We can take my BMW then."

"You have a Beemer?" She asked.

"This is New York, doesn't everyone?"

She laughed, "I don't."

He made a reproachful clicking sound with his tongue, "We'll have to change that then. I'll pick you up, ok?"

"Sounds good. Say, what kind of Beemer?"

"M6 of course."

"Oh, I think I just had a small orgasm." She said sweetly.

He laughed, "I'm glad I've at least accomplished something in this relationship. Other than you being head over heels for me, of course."

"Of course." Her stomach had butterflies in it.

"See you tonight."

"Later." And she hung up.

She ran about the office for the next forty-five minutes, finishing up any random tid-bits that needed to be taken care of before the weekend. She was successfully caught up when Marbles called her cell phone and told her to get her sweet ass downstairs.

When she jumped into his car, he was laughing, "Excited much?"

She laughed, "You have no idea!"

"Where to?"

"Madison Avenue first!" She yelled excitedly.

"God help us all." Marbles mumbled as he revved his engine and tore off into the streets of New York.

They returned to Maggie's condo at 6:30 pm. Maggie was wearing a simple button down white shirt and jeans, but she had her hair and makeup done at the spa her and Marbles went to - and swore she'd never speak of it again.

She ran inside her condo, waving haphazardly over her shoulder to Marbles disappearing car and threw down the bags that contained inconsequentials. She ran into her room, stripping out off her clothes and skidded to a stop.

Taylor was sitting on her bed, dressed in a suit. Maggie stopped breathing.

"Oh shit."

"Hey Maggs." He said, rather normally, considering she was wearing only underwear, with her hair and makeup done.

"Uh, hi Tay. What's up?" She said. She slowly looked around the room for something to slip on, but wasn't having any luck.

He chuckled softly, "You wanna get dressed first?"

She laughed nervously, "Well I have to be ready in fifteen minutes for the dinner." She said softly, continuing the rest of the sentence in a soft, quick, mumble, "Causearthurscomingtopickmeup."

Taylor looked slightly defeated but his face hardened quickly, "You still seeing him?"

Maggie glared at Taylor, perching her hands on her naked hips, "Yeah. I am." She almost growled.

"Right." He spat and left without another word.

Maggie was absolutely dumbfounded. She had no idea what the fuck just happened nor did she have the time to really think about it. She ran into her bathroom added a coat of deodorant, a few sprays of her favorite perfume, ran a brush through her pin straightened hair, and retouched her smoky makeup just a bit. She ran into her front room and grabbed her bags and sprinted back into the bedroom, tossing the lot of it on her bed, except of course for the dress, which she was treating with the utmost care. She grabbed the package that contained what was guaranteed as the highest quality straightener known to human kind and unwrapped it as she tore into her bathroom and plugged it in. Her hair-dresser managed to tame even Maggie's wild curls, promising that this contraption could make straight even Clay Aiken. It heated up instantly and she ran it through her hair a few times, spraying some sort of serum into it that her hair-dresser said was necessary.

Once finished with that she ran back into her room, grabbed the bag containing her shoes and slid them on. After almost breaking her ankle a few times, trying to sprint in four-inch stilettos, she finally had everything under control and slid on her dress, just in time for her doorbell to ring. She shoved every bit of trash into a bag and threw it into the corner of her room, trying to maintain some sort of cleanliness.

She hobbled to her front door and then smoothed out any wrinkles in her dress. She took a deep breath, feeling like she was going to the prom, and opened the door.

When Maggie and Arthur saw each other, they simultaneously let out a deep whoosh of air - demonstrating what it really looked and felt like to have your breath taken away. His eyes roamed her body appreciatively, while hers did the same to his. Arthur was wearing a white dress shirt and a silvery tie, with a charcoal vest and pants made of tweed. It fit his body perfectly, accentuating his wide shoulders and trim waist. The color of the suit made his eyes bounce vibrantly and made his smile much brighter. He looked very much like a 1950s movie star, with his usually unruly hair fashioned into a slight and somehow _attractive_ comb over. Though her eyes were trained on him, she could feel his roving over her body and assessing the damage. Maggie was wearing a beautiful dress with a nude colored silk beneath black chiffon. The front of the dress had a v-cut to her breastbone falling from an armour neckline, covered with intricate beading. The armour neckline fell delicately over her shoulders and convened in a high Y on her back, with the back material cowling to just above the base of her spine. The material rouched beneath her breastbone and cascaded down, with a natural slit in the front that exposed just a bit above her knee. The contrasting material made her movement shimmer without looking too showy while the dress flowed around her like the robes of an angel. When their eyes met, they smiled shyly and Arthur walked in and closed the door behind him.

"Hello Maggie." He said sweetly, kissing her cheek and resting his warm hand on her neck.

"Hi Arthur." She said into his ear. "You look fabulous."

He blushed and smiled, "I only wish I could think of something wonderful to say. Would you believe me if I said that the way you look right now is making me speechless. ME. SPEECHLESS. This _never_ happens." He chuckled. Maggie blushed vividly. "I love what you did with your hair. Very few people can pull off bangs like you."

Maggie laughed. Her hair, which was straight, hung in a loose ponytail at the side of her neck. She had wanted something new to her look so she went for bangs. They cut them to be just about even with her eyebrows and they were more whispy than a blunt cut. It added more angles to her face and did something magical to her eyes. "I like the comb over. Very _Newsies_."

Arthur laughed, "Do I look like a douche? Cause I wasn't sure how to handle it."

Maggie smiled and put a hand to his chest, "You look great. Its..._respectable._"

Arthur smiled, taking her hand in his and stepping closer to her, he kissed her gently, "You have no idea what you do to me." He said softly into her lips.

She smiled against his mouth, "I may have a slight clue."

He chuckled, "Can we get out of here? I'm afraid I'll lose all sense of gentleman-like conduct if we are anywhere close to a bed. And I've been _so_ good."

Maggie laughed, "Yes, you have. If you behave, maybe I'll give you a treat tonight?" She winked, grabbing her handbag and coat and opening the front door.

Arthur followed after her, smiling mischeviously, "What kind of treat? Like, an ass-grab treat? Maybe an'accidental' brushing of your breast with my hand? A full palmed squeeze?"

Maggie laughed as he caught up to her and opened the door to his fabulous 2007 BMW M6 NM series. "Maybe a _slight_ tush squeeze and a finger poke." She said with a finger in his face. He just smiled as she climbed in and he shut her door.

He made his way around to his side and climbed in, "All of my boyhood dreams could come true tonight." He sighed wistfully.

Maggie laughed as he turned on the car, blasting one of her favorite songs, and they drove off towards Scarpa's for the beginning of their evening.

They reached Scarpa's and it was extremely done up for the evening. When they entered, the roomed seemed to quiet down. Maggie smiled at the few people she knew as Arthur came behind her and helped her remove her ankle length jacket. He handed it off to a server as room started to regain its liveliness. The inside was decorated beautifully, with elegant grape vines and empty Chianti bottles hanging from the ceiling. Maggie smiled as Benny approached her, his wife on his arm, smiling widely. He opened his arms and she wrapped her arms around him and he kissed her cheek loudly.

"My God Maggie! Aren't you a vision? I shouldn't have bothered with hiring any girls tonight, you certainly take the show!" Benny laughed.

"Thanks Benny, you old coot." She smiled, jabbing him softly in the side. Arthur came up to her side and she slid her hand into his. She motioned towards Benny, "This is Benny, my boss and lifelong friend. Benny this is Arthur."

Benny reached out and took Arthur's hand, shaking it warmly, "Pleasure to meet you Arthur. You sure got lucky with this one."

Arthur smiled, "Absolutely sir."

Benny laughed and clapped a hand on Arthur's shoulder, "Hell, call me Benny, if she thinks you're worthy enough to bring around, you're practically family." Arthur smiled warmly and gave a happy look to Maggie who was smiling brightly. "Well don't let me keep you! Get a drink! The boys are outside."

Maggie nodded and dragged Arthur towards the bar. Arthur ordered a VO and water and Maggie got a glass of Pinot Grigio from her former winery.

"He's not too bad." Arthur smiled. "For an ex-Mafia Don."

Maggie chuckled and squeezed his hand, "He's harmless as long as you don't look him in the eye for too long."

"Good to know." Arthur chuckled and sipped his drink. "So am I allowed to get properly snockered tonight and you get to drive me home and hopefully keep me from drowning in my own vomit?"

Maggie did an exaggerated shiver, "I love when you talk all romantic-like."

He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her ear to his lips, "If you get lucky you might even get to clean up after my disgraces."

"Ooh, promise?" He simply winked and they went outside.

The back patio of Scarpa's was rather large. It was somewhat encased with semi-windows and an awning to keep its patrons safe from the harsh New York weather while still allowing them to smoke outside. The awning was covered with beautiful lights, which glittered and gave the atmosphere a warm glow. Once they were outside, she saw her father, sitting with Chris's father, Chris, Marbles, Matty, and Taylor. She walked up to the group, with Arthur holding her hand and cleared her throat.

Her father looked up and had to take a second look, "Oh my God! Maggie?" He shouted and practically jumped out of his chair and hugged his only daughter with fierceness. "Oh you look so beautiful!"

She smiled and kissed his cheek, "Thank you daddy. I've missed you."

"I missed you too Maggs." He said, holding her tightly. "So this must be the infamous Arthur." He reached out a hand and Arthur shook it.

"That's correct sir." He smiled. "Its really a pleasure to meet you."

"Please, call me Alonso." He smiled.

"Of course." Arthur said. "I'm really glad I have the opportunity to see Maggie with all of you. She talks about you guys all the time."

"Its good to know I haven't been forgotten, the old bag of wind that I am." Alonso chuckled.

Maggie slapped him on the shoulder, "Daddy, shut it!" She laughed, "I'd never forget you."

"Nor I you, my dear." He said, grabbing the hand she swung with and kissing it. "You have drinks? Alright then, please sit and have a cigar. We were all just sitting around, shooting the shit."

"Thanks Daddy." She smiled. She walked around the table and the boys all stood to greet her. "How are you doing Matty?"

"Great honey, you look fucking gorgeous." Matty smiled, kissing her cheek.

She was passed on to Chris, "You look wonderful as always Chris. I'm definitely not the best looking one here." She chuckled.

He kissed her on the cheek as well, "Ah, shut it. You look fabulous, babe."

"Marbles, long time no see." She laughed.

He pulled her into a great big hug and kissed her soundly on the mouth. He put his lips to her ear, "I _told_ you that dress was fuckin' hot. I fuckin' _told_ you." He laughed.

"Thanks Marbles." She smiled.

Taylor stood, his face and eyes empty, a look Maggie had never seen on him before, especially directed at her. He hugged her coldly and kissed her neck, on the soft spot, just below her ear, and whispered, "You are amazing." and then, let her go.

Her heart beat quickly for a few seconds, hurt by his cold reception and wondering desperately what she did wrong. Arthur came up a few moments later, after shaking hands with everyone else and reached a hand out to Taylor.

"Nice seeing you again Taylor. How are you?" He smiled.

Taylor reached up and shook his hand a little lamely, "Fine Arthur. How are you?"

Arthur smiled, a little happy that Taylor hadn't punched him or tried to castrate him with a look, "Great thanks. This sure is a wonderful party. You guys sure know how to have a good time."

Taylor simply nodded and sat down. Marbles chimed in, "Yeah, you should see us when Maggie doesn't look so much like a girl. Then she gets _really_ wild." He laughed. They all sat and Taylor watched, boiling on the inside, as Arthur pulled out a chair for Maggie and she sat in it, giving him her brightest smile as a way of thanks. Alonso pulled out two more cigars and offered one to Maggie and Arthur. They both accepted and lit up. The atmosphere cooled slightly, but Taylor did not like the way that Maggie reached out and touched Arthur's hand gently nor the blazingly admiring looks that Arthur was giving Maggie that made her blush. He simply drank a little more, hoping to dull his senses so he wouldn't notice their happiness.

They continued the animated conversation with Alonso telling old stories about himself and Chris's father. The men continued the conversation, revisiting stories about the boys and Maggie growing up. Most of the dialogue was meant to embarrass the hell out of Maggie, which was hard to do.

"I swear that girl got sent home for getting in fights more than Mr. Reese over there." Alonso laughed. The group joined in, "Most of the time it was for beating up one of these punks. The little squealers."

Matty chuckled, "We wouldn't have told on her if she didn't fight so dirty."

Maggie choked on her wine a little, but recovered, "Well if I didn't have four guys who were at least a foot taller than me and out weighed me by 80 pounds picking on me all the time, I wouldn't've had to fight so much, would I?"

"You were an easy target." Chris chuckled.

Maggie took a long hit from her cigar, "Which is _why_, pretty boy, I busted your nose an you had to go get it _surgically_ fixed! I remember that because I basically worked off the payment as a bus girl when I was about twelve!!" She screeched.

All the men laughed raucously at that and Chris scowled at Maggie, "If only I could be mad at you for more than fifteen seconds. We might actually have taught you a lesson."

"Yeah, it doesn't help when you bat your eyelashes like a little _girl_ and act all cute." Matty groused.

"What?" Maggie said with the cigar in her mouth, "You mean like this?" She batted her eyelashes dramatically and everyone chuckled.

"I'm gonna grab some more drinks, everyone want another round?" Arthur smiled.

Maggie looked up at him, concerned, but he smiled warmly back, reassuring her. All the men grunted their assent and then continued their detailed descriptions of life in the old days.

"So Maggie," Alonso said sweetly, "You really like this guy?"

Maggie blushed furiously, "Why?"

Alonso laughed, "I just want to know how much I'll have to pay Matty to have him killed if he hurts you."

Maggie laughed, "No, I do like him. A lot. He's very genuine and sweet. He's funny and can take shit. He's got a legitimite job-,"

"I resent that comment." Matty interjected.

"Fuck off," Maggie chuckled, "He's strong and he genuinely seems to care about me." Without really knowing, she directed this last comment towards Taylor, who was looking at her until she said it. His eyes dropped and Maggie felt a little guilty. "He's fun to hang out with and hasn't ran screaming for the hills after meeting all you _stronzos_ so I think if he can handle that, he can handle just about anything."

Alonso laughed, puffing on his cigar, "That's good to hear. I'm glad you finally have a steady man in your life." Everyone caught the sly dig that Alonso made. Despite how much he loved Taylor like his own child, he was not happy with the way he had treated his one and only daughter.

"Drinks all around!" Arthur smiled as he brought in a tray holding up all their drinks.

"Careful Arthur, someone might think you're the help." Matty laughed.

Arthur placed the tray on the table, taking up the nearest napkin and hanging it on his arm, he spouted in a horrible French accent, "_Anysing else I may help vou wif?_"

The men all laughed and Marbles took out a twenty and threw it at Arthur who took his seat, pocketing the twenty, "Alright, tips!" he smiled.

Everyone laughed heartily at that and continued their conversation from before.

A few moments later, Maggie abandoned her cigar, grabbed her purse and made her way into the restaurant using the bathroom as an excuse. She ran to the restroom, tinkled quickly - or at least as quickly as possible in a dress that fancy - and retreated to the front of the bar for a real smoke.

She opened the door with a cigarette clenched in her teeth and the lighter at the ready when she saw Taylor standing outside the door to the side. She gave an inward sigh and walked over to him with her cigarette dangling from her lips.

"How's it going big guy?" She smiled, puffing on her cigarette.

He looked her up and down trying to hide the pained look from how wonderful she looked, "It's going. Trying to keep my head up. The business sucks, but hopefully, Matty will find someone younger than me to kick asses soon and I can take up something serious."

Maggie nodded, "That sounds about right. I mean, who the fuck knew? Taylor Reese, gettin' old." She smiled.

Taylor chuckled lightly, "Yeah. Who knew?"

"How's everything else?" She smiled. Never in her life had it ever been _awkward_ between her and Taylor. At this point it was exceedingly awkward and it was pissing her off.

"Same ol' same ol'." He said without elaborating.

"Ok." Maggie said, slightly miffed. She threw down her barely smoked cigarette and stomped it out with the toe of her fabulous shoes. "Well, ok then Mr. Reese. See you around." She said lamely and went inside before she could start yelling at him.

It was beyond unfair that she suffered for years while Taylor Reese sowed his wild oats with just about every woman in a 50 mile radius. However the first moment where Maggie actually found someone who is decent to her, who she wants to be around for more than a fuck, and he gets all pissy about it. She was seething at the bar when Marbles strolled up to her and smiled and then, it was gone.

"Uh oh." He said.

"Yeah." She grumbled, "Uh oh. Taylor's an outright bitch!" She growled.

Marbles tried to shush her, but was having a hard time not laughing, "I know he is." Marbles said after he stifled the laughter. "He's just dumb. Doesn't know how to give a shit about anyone but himself. Finally, when he's got it, it's the wrong time. He's as dense as a lead box of bricks."

Maggie chuckled, "Yeah. It just pisses me off. I'm really happy you know. Good job, great boyfriend. My life is finally stabilizing after too many years of uncertainty and _he_ gets all pissy. _He's_ the one who didn't want me and I took it, like a great fucking soldier and waited for him. But I _cant_ anymore. I was lonely. I wanted a real companion. And I found it. I don't know if Arthur will last for a few years or a few more days, but he's good to me and we have fun. I'm fucking _sick_ of Taylor's shit."

"Thanks for the update on the melodrama. I'll be sure to blog it tonight." Maggie chuckled bitterly. "Exaclty though. You are happy. You are stable. Fuck it. Have fun and live your life. You don't need to wait around for Taylor to wake up anymore. He's seen what it could have been and he denied it. That's _his_ fault. Not yours. So fuck it. You like this guy?" She nodded, "Then give him half the chance you gave Taylor and he'll make you happy. I've seen the way he looks at you. Its nauseating."

Maggie laughed. "Thanks Marbles."

"Go home. Spend the night with your dude. I know you haven't yet."

She stared at him speculatively, "Haven't _what_ yet?"

He wiggled his eyebrows, "You know."

She scoffed, "Sick Marbles. And how do you know I haven't? Maybe we boned on the way here, maybe I climbed right over the stick shift of his M6 and did him as we entered the parking lot."

Marbles laughed, "Honey, everyone was watching when you two entered the parking lot, like 85 year old gossiping grandmothers. You didn't have time."

Maggie laughed and jabbed Marbles in the gut, "You're a prick, you know that?"

He winked and kissed her, "From the day I was born!"

He pushed her off and slapped her on the ass, she yelped as she made her way outside to find Arthur or her father.

She found both of them, engaged in a conversation on the edge of the patio. They were smiling and talking and she didn't necessarily want to interrupt it, but her father saw her and stopped talking, smiling at her. Arthur turned around and smiled at her sweetly. Maggie felt as the breath in her lungs was forced out of her body to make room for the butterflies in her stomach.

"Hello bella." Her father smiled.

"I think we're gonna take off. I've had a long day daddy." Maggie smiled.

Alonso smiled as well and pulled his daughter in for a tight hug. When they were close he whispered in her ear, "I like him. He seems like a really nice man. I love you and just want you to be happy."

Maggie felt tears well up in her eyes and she kissed her father wetly on the cheek. He smiled and nodded at her and then turned to Arthur to say their goodbyes.

They made rounds and said goodnight to everyone, despite many people begging them to stay. They said they regretted leaving, but Arthur took the blame, saying he had some project meeting tomorrow morning, when really, he had jack shit to do.

When they got in the car, Arthur looked over at Maggie. She seemed slightly deflated. "You alright?"

"There's something I need to tell you." Maggie said softly.

Arthur nodded, "Lets get back to your place, get into something comfortable and we can talk. I don't want you to cry off your _fabulous_ makeup."

Despite how shitty she felt, Arthur always seemed to make her smile.

They got back to her place and Maggie went to the bathroom and washed off all of her makeup. She slid on a pair of mini boxers and her favorite white tank top to sleep in and made her way out into the front room where Arthur brought out a bottle of wine and two glasses.

She smiled weakly at him as he poured out the glasses, "You just want the bottle?"

She laughed, "Douche bag."

"Fuck I _knew_ the hair was no good!" And Maggie laughed again. She circled the couch and sat next to him. He was still in his suit, but his jacket was off, his tie was loosened, and his sleeves were rolled.

"Ok, spill." He smiled.

Maggie grimaced and grabbed her glass of wine. She took a small sip and sighed, "It's shitty."

"The wine or the situation?" He chuckled lightly.

She smiled, "The situation. I _never_ have shitty wine." They both smiled and she continued. "I've been in love with Taylor Reese as long as I can remember." She watched for his reaction, but he kept his features neutral. "Everyone has said he's had a thing for me too and we hooked up once, but nothing came out of it. The problem is I've been sitting and waiting for him to wake up and realize I'm here, but he never did. He just kept acting like I'd be around forever. Then I found you," She smiled and caressed her hand across his smooth face, "And I'm really happy. I like you. A lot. You're nice to be around and I have a lot of fun with you. I'm insanely attracted to you and you make me smile and he hates it and I actually feel guilty. I fucking feel guilty for being happy. The fact is, I care about you. You're here and he's not. Even if he _was_ here I'm not sure if I could be satisfied. He's had countless women and I _mean_ countless. It makes me feel insecure and I fucking hate it. With you, I'm comfortable, I'm satisfied. I feel like you're attention is on me. Him and I have a lifetime of a relationship but it's more dysfunctional that yours and mine could possibly ever be. I love him and I might always love him and I wanted to tell you that before we got too involved. I didn't want you to be around if you knew that I cared for someone else. Its not like you're replacing him or you're a rebound, it's simply that my heart just got bigger in order to fit a space for you in there. I'm not sure who has the bigger slice at the moment, but my heart is broken for him, but so happy because of you."

He was silent for a moment, sipped on his wine and then put it down. He scooted closer to her, grabbed her wine and placed it on the table and pulled her closer, so her legs were in his lap. He grabbed her face and kissed her with a ferocity she didn't know he had. "I don't care." He said simply and then chuckled at her confused expression. "I'll be honest. I'm not down for competing with him. I wont battle for your affection. But I care about you. If you want me around, I'll be here and there's not a damn thing he can do about it." He sighed, almost as if he were frustrated, "Maggie you are an amazing girl. If he fucked around with you then that's his fault, not yours. He was stupid enough to let you go for a moment and since I'm lucky enough to capitalize on that moment, I'll take it." He chuckled. "As long as you want me here I'm here. I don't care how many insults are flung at me or how many times he threatens me, if _you_ want me, I'll stick around. I don't really give a flying fuck about anyone but you."

Maggie stared at him in disbelief, her mouth moving wordlessly. He smiled at her expression and kissed her again. The ferocity wasn't the same, it was more timid, more of a testing kiss than anything else.

In that moment, with Arthur's hands caressing her face and neck and his lips against hers, Maggie pushed aside all feelings for Taylor. He wasn't there with her. He wasn't the one kissing her and consoling her. He just _wasn't_ and Maggie finally got that. She knew that she'd never give up on loving Taylor, it was a part of her just like her liver or spleen, but in kissing Arthur she found that she was able to drown out the frequency of Taylor oriented thoughts and focus only on Arthur - she was never able to do that before.

His hands moved down her sides slowly and his kiss was still soft, but Maggie deepened it with her new found enlightenment. She dove head first into the kiss and Arthur picked up on her tenacity. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap so that she was straddling him. Her hands her moving through his hair now and touching his face gently, while his skimmed her sides and her thighs.

Her body was buzzing with need for Arthur and she found that for once she wasn't scared. She let her fingers dip down to her neck line where she began unbuttoning his shirt, letting her fingers splay all over his muscular chest and abs.

"Maggie," He said breathily into her kisses, "I want you. So badly."

She smiled into his lips, "I want you too." She said softly.

In that moment, Arthur scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom with her legs still wrapped around his waist. They fell onto the bed, a mess of heated bodies and tangled limbs and began to deepen their kisses and expand the amount of skin graced by them.

Arthur stood abruptly and kicked off his shoes. He pulled off his shirt and threw it on the floor, leaving him with nothing but his dress pants on. Maggie watched as he lowered himself on the bed and kissed at her thighs, working his way slowly up her body. His body was amazing. His chest and arms were muscular and his stomach was incredible, with rippled abs and a drastic V that lead to his nether regions.

His fingertips played along her abdomen while he kissed at her hips, nipping lightly and sending chills up her spine. His hand sneaked up her shirt and dug into her stomach, her sides, and finally found their way to her breasts. In a moment, he had her shirt off and thrown on the floor, his fingers playing softly with her nipples, causing her to moan lightly.

His mouth descended on the pink bud, taking the whole nipple into his mouth, sucking on it and teasing the tip with his tongue and teeth. Maggie was feeling every inch of him pressing up against her and she tried desperately to get her hands on some of it. He moved back up to her mouth and kissed her deeply, while a hand still played with her breast. She reached down between them and worked on undoing his pants. She slid her hand inside his pants and boxers and took him into her hand, caressing the soft skin and letting his heat radiate through her. He was bigger than she originally thought. Bigger than any other man she'd been with, other than _him_, but she wasn't going to think about that now, especially as his mouth descended upon her breasts once more and her mind was jettosined out into oblivion.

Without much more delay, Arthur had pulled off his pants and hers as well. He was kneeling before her, staring at her as she laid on her back, squirming beneath his touch.

"You are so beautiful." He said.

Maggie looked up at him, seeing his entire body for the first time and positively _needing_ him. She beckoned him forward with her finger and when he moved to lay on top of her, she pulled at his hand and flipped him on his back.

He laughed as she climbed up his body, kissing just about every inch, "Don't think you get to have all the fun." She smiled. She slowly moved lower and lower until she was at his groin. She took him in her hand and licked up his entire length, keeping her eyes on his heavy lidded ones. He was biting his lip lightly and licking his lips as he watched Maggie lick him all over and suck gently on the tip, causing him to shudder.

"Please don't do that too much." Arthur chuckled and so did Maggie.

"What? This?" She smiled and then took him entirely into her mouth, relaxing her throat and allowing some of him to go deep.

"Jesus. Fuck." He said and she pulled back, smiling devilishly. "You'll pay for that." He smiled, looking down on her, his brown eyes smoldering.

"Oh yeah?" She smiled, but before she could descend on him again, he grabbed her and pulled her back up to his lips so he could kiss her, wildly. His immense erection pressed into her and she wanted him so badly that she could barely stand it. That's when he rolled her over, forcing her to comply with the weight advantage he had and letting his hands play all over her body. He slipped a finger inside of her and moved it in and out slowly but with a lot of friction as he pulled a nipple into his mouth and began to roll it around between his teeth.

Maggie moaned louder at that, his fingers and his mouth playing on her most sensitive flesh. She whined slightly as he detached from her breast, but he just chuckled as he sunk lower and lower until his mouth was at her clit. His tongue snaked out expertly and danced among the folds of skin while his finger pressed into one of the most sensitive spots inside of her.

She was tormented by the amount of pleasure he was eliciting from her. She was desperately trying to hold back the mounting pleasure in her body. She felt his lips close around her clit as sucked on it gently, letting the tip of his tongue graze the most sensitive spot sending shock waves of pleasure through her entire body.

"Holy shit, Arthur!" She said. Her hands fell to his face and she gently nudged him away. He smiled and kissed her gently, another shiver wracking her body. "Please?" She said softly.

He kissed up her body again and their mouths clashed with ferocity. "You have condoms?"

"Yes. You don't?" She smiled, he nipped at her lower lip.

"Of course I do. They're in my car." He chuckled, "I'm not sure going outside like this would make your neighbors happy."

"You'd be surprised. My neighborhood is predominantly female." She chucked and then rolled to her bedside table and pulled out a condom. He sat up and put up his hand but Maggie shook her head, "Let me." He simply nodded as she unwrapped the tiny little package and rolled it slowly over the head of his penis and down the shaft. She saw him shudder slightly and smiled up at him.

He laid back down on top of her and kissed her soundly, "You ready?"

She smiled, "I'll punch you if you don't hurry up."

He chuckled as he placed the head at her entrance, "Oh you like it rough?"

"On occasion." She smiled, "Think you can hang?"

He nodded kissing her softly on the lips. He kissed down her neck and licked her earlobe, pressing himself gently against her opening, "You tell me what you want and I'll do whatever you need." He said and then promptly pushed himself entirely inside of her.

Maggie was amazed by the way he fit inside her just perfectly. He started moving slowly and it was agonizingly pleasing. His hands and lips were still all over her face, neck and breasts, while he kept up a slow steady rhythm that was driving her insane.

Maggie tried desperately to push her hips up faster, but he quashed that by simply putting one of his large hands around her hip and thigh and holding her in place as he moved inside of her.

"Tell me what you want." He said softly, kissing her jaw.

"Harder." She said. He increased the intensity of his thrusts, but kept the same pace. She whined slightly in his ear and she heard him chuckle. "Faster" She finally said.

"Yes ma'am." He smiled. He claimed her lips again and began to thrust into her with such intensity and speed that she felt her climax nearing in about four seconds. She was trying to hold off, to keep the feeling lasting just a little longer, but Arthur picked up on it quickly. His fingers reached down between them and found her clit. He began rubbing it in synch with his thrusts.

Maggie was breathing harder, trying to stay in control, trying to keep from screaming out his name.

"Let it go baby," He smiled into her ear, "I wont stop." He said and then his mouth descended on her nipple and began sucking it again.

Maggie's entire body revolted against her state of mind and an orgasm came crashing over her. She screamed his name and her nails scraped down his back, but he didn't miss a beat. He felt her tensing around him and he allowed his mouth to move back up to hers while his fingers rubbed a little softer at her clit, knowing she was extremely sensitive.

But rather than ask him to stop, Maggie begged for more. He continued his speed and intensity all while his fingers elicited about three more orgasms from her before his finally crashed over him.

They lay there for a few moments, regaining their cognitive functions and just kissed softly. He finally pulled out, still very hard after his intense orgasm, and retreated to the bathroom to clean up.

When he came back out, he climbed into the bed and pulled Maggie as close to him as possible with her facing him, something she wasn't used to.

His hands skimmed her cheeks and jaw and he kissed her lightly. "That was amazing."

She smiled sleepily at him and kissed him on the lips, "Yes. Yes it was."

"We should definitely do that more often." He chuckled.

Maggie smiled. "Sleep. Food. Then sex."

He kissed her sleepy eyelids and then her lips, "Hopefully two hours is enough. I'll make you a sandwich and you can eat on the go."

Maggie laughed and curled into his body. He kissed her forehead and they fell asleep, wound around each other and in a serene cataclysm.


	9. Chapter 8

Sorry its taken so long. I've been on vacation and my creative side has taken a hiatus :/ I'll try to be better in the future! Hope you're enjoying things!

* * *

**-8-**

It was only about four a.m. when Taylor started to feel really sorry for himself. He was almost to the point of being stupid drunk and he felt like a fight. It didn't take much for Taylor to feel like a fight, but tonight, it'd been a record time.

Maggie had looked amazing. Her hair was absolutely silky smooth and she had smelled wonderful. Her eyes were dangerous and so vivid that it was incredibly hard for him not to stare.

_Not that she'd notice_. His inner self growled. It was increasingly nauseating watching the couple together. Arthur's eyes didn't stray from Maggie one bit - despite all of the curvaceous, beautiful women floating around the bar that night. _One reason why he's a better man than me. _He thought pitifully.

What made it even worse was that Maggie barely looked at him. She'd always looked at him. Despite who she was talking to, whatever she was talking about, her eyes would drift to his and she'd smile in her wonderful way and wink. Her body was always in tune with his as well. He felt her presence just as much as she had felt his, but tonight, it seemed like that had disappeared.

_Its all him now_. Taylor thought. _He's taken everything from me._ He lit up a cigarette, with the inhaling smoke, he felt his chest rise and fall, but the smoke wasn't the only thing toxic brewing inside of him.

_Ah, but you let her go._ A very different voice inside of him sang.

He huffed and inhaled deeper, his eyes having a hard time focusing on the ground beneath his feet. Where was he even going?

_We weren't married. I was young, stupid, how could she expect me to-,_

_You were her _friend._ You said you loved her. And you do. You didn't shove that hooker off you when she latched herself to your dick. You never asked Maggie on a date. You never told her your true feelings. _YOU _made this bed, now lie in it._

Taylor felt a growl rising in his chest. He wanted desperately to wrap his large hands around something and squeeze the life out of it.

_Fuck you._ His own voice growled back.

_Good one._ The other voice replied.

Taylor increased his speed, pounding away at the blocks before him in no certain direction. Finally, when he was breathing hard and almost sweating he looked up and noticed he was in Maggie's neighborhood.

He walked to the front of her small house and saw that the light in her front room was on. His cognitive thought process was a little dim right now, and he chose to ignore the smart ass voice that was telling him, rather, screaming at him to turn around and go away. _You wont like what you find here._

He took out his key ring and took the key in his hand for Maggie's house. It took him a while, cause the lock kept moving, but he finally inserted the key and twisted the lock open. He gripped the handle and turned the knob slowly and deliberately, fighting the urge to fall over and go to sleep. He drank more than usual tonight. Not that a "usual" amount for Taylor was normal, by any means, however, he drank more than was necessary for him to get drunk.

He didn't want to get drunk tonight. After seeing Arthur's hands on Maggie' back or his fingers entwined with hers or lightly brushing that delicate skin just below her neck which smelled delicious when she was aroused - he shook his head to clear the thoughts away. No, he hadn't wanted to get drunk when he saw all that, he'd needed to.

He closed the door softly behind him and walked in his silent way through the foyer to the front room and sat down on the couch.

"Why are you here?" The voice said again.

"I don't know." He replied pitifully.

"Taylor." The voice said and he looked up, only to see Maggie wrapped in a purple silk robe that hung loose, but clung delicately to her small breasts. The nipples were hard beneath the fabric and Taylor smiled in a devious way. Then, as his eyes followed down the rest of her body, he noticed the gun in her hand.

"What's that?" He growled, nodding towards her hand.

She lifted it up and looked at it, "A Kahr MK40 pistol. What does it look like?"

"Why do you have a gun?" He asked groggily.

She sighed, "I'm currently holding it because I heard someone scraping at the lock - only to find a drunken behemoth on my couch instead of a burglar. The reason I bought it was because I didn't know how often some rival of yours or Matty's would try to come at me to get to you. I was ready to put a bullet in someone if it meant protecting you guys." She looked down at her hand, "I don't like it, but I have it anyways. They wont stop to think about what they are doing," She sniffed, "So why would I?"

Taylor nodded grimly, he understood what kind of stretch that was for Maggie. She was quite possibly the most caring and loving person he'd ever known and she'd never hurt anyone unless her hand was forced. She was so beautiful and so perfect in that moment, and yet he could feel her sadness. She was also dangerous.

"You ok?" He asked.

She looked back up at him with tears in her eyes, "I'm fine Taylor, but I still don't understand why you are on my couch at four o'clock in the morning."

"I went for a walk." He pouted.

She just chuckled and shook her head, "Go home Taylor. Please?" She sounded a little desperate and he could feel the tension rolling off of her in waves.

Taylor's eyebrow rose. He saw her in the little robe, obviously nothing on underneath, and wondered. It was one thing to talk about feelings, but with him and Maggie much didn't need to be said when their bodies were involved. They always sensed each other's feelings and emotions and were able to solve things on a different plane compared to most people. He stood up and walked towards her and he could see everything written all over her body. The way she stood, the flush of her cheeks and the glow on her skin, but worst of all was her smell. She smelled wonderful, but there was hint of something else, perhaps _someone_ else.

A growl rose in his chest and he took a step towards her bedroom. Maggie was standing in the doorway and she put up a hand, but he didn't stop.

She saw his eyes, molten brown, almost black, and positively empty of any emotion other than rage. She planted her feet and raised the gun to chest level. Taylor stopped, absolutely shocked.

"Stop." She said in a strained whine. Her hands were shaking and he could hear the horror in her voice. "Stop right there. You better leave, now Taylor, because there is no fight for you here. Go find someone else to fight, to fuck, and to ruin, because I'm not doing it anymore. And its not his fault. Don't blame this on Arthur." Tears were falling down her cheeks, but her grip had steadied. "I will not hesitate to shoot you if you come at me with that look in your eye again. I'm not some fucking slut you control. He's not some gang banger trying to push you out of your turf." She spat, trying to control the emotion in her voice.

Maggie was horrified by the look in Taylor's eyes. It was rage, hurt, and terror all rolled up into something black and pitiless inside of him. It didn't help that he was drunk beyond recognition and that if he really wanted to, he could over power her and snap her like a twig.

"So just stop." She said. "You're drunk and you need to stop." She was openly sobbing now, keeping the gun raised, while the tears poured down her cheeks and the whines breaking through her clenched teeth.

In that moment, Taylor hated himself. He was the king of pushing back every single self-reflecting thought that crossed through his mind since he was born. He's never felt guilty for anything he'd done in his entire life, but in this moment, seeing the little girl he loved, tears streaming down her cheeks, with her entire body shaking - except the grip on the gun - he was terrified of what he'd become.

His features softened and Maggie saw it too. She saw his face go from rage to pain in a split second and all he did was turn and walk out the door.

Maggie crumpled to the ground, the gun slack in her right hand and she sobbed, silently, as horrifying thoughts raced through her mind. She'd never seen Taylor display emotions as such and it horrified her. Would she have shot him? _If he came at me, maybe._ If he went after Arthur? _Absolutely._

The admonition horrified her and tore her heart to pieces, she stared down at the gun and laughed bitterly. The safety was on. She stumbled up, leaving the gun on the side table of her couch and grabbed the bottle of wine and her pack of cigarettes. She went onto her porch and started drinking straight from the neck lighting one cigarette after another. Her thoughts wandered...

His eyes were empty of emotion, even towards her and it broke her heart. He was ready to let jealousy destroy their friendship and her happiness. _How_ could he be so selfish?

For the first time in her life, Maggie truly hated Taylor Reese.

The recipient of such hatred was cold sober as he ran through the streets of New York. The cold wind was whipping at his face and drying the tears he refused to acknowledge.

Something had broken inside Taylor Reese that night, watching as the woman he loved pointed a gun at him. She _hated_ him. There's no other reason for it. All of the dark, vile things in Taylor's soul crept up from the recesses of his mind and took hold of his heart. He'd never let anyone in like that again. He'd never trust, never feel, never allow anything to penetrate as deeply as she had. He couldn't let that happen. People depended on him to be that dark, pitiless creature that showed no mercy, and for the first time in his life, Taylor truly felt like he wanted to be that creature.

The next morning Matty was sitting at his table with the boys all around, some recovering from the night before. They're eyes were a bit bleary and all of them were tired after partying the whole night through. Except for Taylor.

Taylor sat at the table with sunglasses on and a cigarette hanging limply from his lips. He hadn't said a word to anyone and Matty was sure he hadn't slept.

Matty was about to open his mouth when his front door came crashing open. All the guys jumped up alertly and pointed guns toward the front door.

Arthur came flying in and stood in front of Taylor. His eyes were wide and he looked thoroughly pissed off.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" Arthur growled, directed at Taylor.

The men all put their guns away and sat down, obviously Arthur wasn't there to fight any of them, and he hadn't been deterred by the guns anyway.

"You selfish, cock sucking son of a bitch!" Arthur bellowed at Taylor, when Taylor didn't even acknowledge him. "What did you fucking do to her, huh? Are you that pathetic that you take out your anger on her? She hasn't done ANYTHING to you and you treat her like shit!"

"Whoa Arthur," Matty said, standing slowly, "Calm down."

"Calm down?" Arthur chuckled and shook his head. "Well he obviously didn't tell you where he was last night then, huh?"

Matty, Marbles, and Chris all looked a little dumbfounded, tracing their eyes back and forth between Taylor and the enraged Arthur.

Arthur calmed slightly, but in a voice no one misunderstood as being deadly serious, he said, "I don't care what you do to me." He growled, "You can hate me, try to ruin me, hurt me, I don't fucking care, but you leave her alone, damnit! She's suffered enough because of your fucking selfish immaturity!"

Taylor mumbled something and everyone looked over to him.

"What was that?" Arthur spat.

In a flash, Taylor leaped up and punched Arthur solidly in the kidneys. Arthur stumbled slightly but regained his footing and took a swing at Taylor, who effortlessly dodged it.

".." Taylor bellowed. "I don't care about you, I don't care what you do, and I definitely don't care about that fucking _cunt_."

Arthur took another hard swing at Taylor, who did not expect it this time, from a man who was leaning over in pain, and received a deafening punch to his jaw. He faltered back a little bit and then spat blood on Matty's $8000 tile floor. A growl of rage bubbled up from his chest and he lunged at Arthur who was happily ready for this confrontation.

The rest of the guys were still slightly dumbfounded and did not even understand what was happening. There were a flurry of blows from either side, until finally Matty jumped up and grabbed Taylor with Chris's assistance. Marbles grabbed Arthur and pushed him back.

"I swear to God Taylor, I will fucking kill you if you ever pull shit like that again." Arthur screamed while Marbles attempted to hold him back.

"HEY!" Matty bellowed which knocked everyone out of their fury, except for Taylor who was just standing calmly behind him, with an empty look in his eyes. "What the fuck is this about?"

Arthur wiped the blood from his lips and looked at Matty with a fierce glare. "Ask him." He nodded towards Taylor, who was still as stone. "I'm sorry Matty for interrupting your breakfast. But keep him away from me _and_ Maggie if you don't want a corpse on your hands." He growled and left the house promptly. They heard the motorcycle catch and then fade into the distance as Arthur roared away.

"What the fuck?" Marbles said absently, looking at the slammed door and then back at Matty, Taylor, and Chris.

"Yeah, you said it. What the fuck?" Matty grumbled and looked back at Taylor. "Care to explain?" His smile was light and joking but the returning glare from Taylor, made his skin crawl.

"No." Taylor said, grabbing his jacket and leaving as well.

There were a few more moments of silence and then Chris finally spoke, "Did that seriously just happen?"

Matty chuckled, "Yeah, it did. I'm impressed. Arthur's not the candy-ass we thought he was. If this thing with Taylor ever falls through, I'm pretty sure we have another enforcer on our hands if he can take a beating like that and still be standing."

"No, seriously..." Marbles said, "What the fuck?"

Matty nodded, "I'm gonna go after him." He said, grabbing his jacket as well, "Call Maggie, make sure she's ok."

"On it." Marbles said and picked up his phone.

Maggie left her phone on the nightstand, not wishing to speak with anyone just yet. Arthur had gotten up around seven, noticed Maggie wasn't in bed and came out to find her. When he saw her on the patio, a crumpled box of cigarettes and a half empty pack next to two and a half empty bottles of wine, he ran over to her and tried to ask her what had happened.

With much prying he got the story out of her after a few hours and left her crying her eyes out on the patio. He didn't intend to make Maggie think that he was abandoning her or that he didn't want her, but he was overcome with rage. He needed to fuck somebody up and it was going to be Taylor.

Maggie had stopped most of her tears - or else ran out of them - and had pulled herself together enough to shower and eat some pieces of bread. She still felt drunk and didn't exactly feel like stopping. She was happy that she had a carton of cigarettes stashed away and didn't have to leave to go get anything. She felt twice as beat as she looked.

She spent the rest of her day, on the patio, continuing her steady drinking and smoking binge, hoping the toxins would simply give her brain damage and she could forget about what happened.

When she heard her door open, she was afraid to turn around to see who it was.

She felt the warm hand on her shoulder and the soft kiss on her cheek and she was happy to feel Arthur behind her.

She looked back at him, smiling weakly and drunk, and her mind came to a screeching halt as she saw what happened to his face.

"I'm sorry I didn't come back, but I went to the hospital to have some things checked out." Arthur said, kneeling and wincing as he went down in front of her. He pulled her into him and kissed her chest and neck softly. She took his face in her hands and she winced. His nose was bruised as well as a shiner on his left eye, his lip was split and swollen and she could tell he was moving a little more gingerly than usual.

"What happened?" She asked, horrified.

"I got mugged." He said lamely.

"Don't lie to me please." She said, painfully.

He sighed, "Me and Taylor got into it about you. He jabbed me in the kidneys and then I lost it."

She misunderstood the statement, "He did WHAT?" She growled.

"No, stop." Arthur said. "Please, its over between me and him. I don't want it to last any longer than it has to. I love you and I care about you and thats what matters."

"I can't believe he-," Maggie started to shriek, but Arthur simply put a bruised hand over her lips.

"It doesn't matter. Please?" Arthur begged. He smiled weekly and kissed her cheek, "Can we just go watch a movie and I'll get hopped up on pain killers and you can baby me?"

She looked at him sternly, "This isn't over." She growled.

He looked up at her softly, "Please Maggie. This needs to stop somewhere."

Her features softened and she kissed him lightly, "Ok puss, lets get you up and over to the couch so you can rest while I pamper your every need."

She helped him over to the large comfy couch and helped him lay down. She got some ice for his face and some rum to ease the pain. She slipped him some pills that she said was Ibuprofen and he soon fell fast asleep.

Maggie felt a little bad for slipping him the vicodin, but he needed rest and she needed to talk to Taylor, both things she knew would not happen if Arthur was awake and cognizant.

She arrived at Taylor's apartment just as the sun was starting to fall in the sky. She felt apprehensive but her heart was empty of any emotion except anger. Taylor had fucked around too long and she was sick of it. She had no idea what she would say to him, but she figured it would come to her soon enough. She was tired of it. She was tired of him.

She walked up to his door, which of course was unlocked and let herself in. Taylor's apartment was essentially the entire third floor of the building. He has his things set up so it seemed almost compartmentalized, yet it was still spread out and open. No one could hide or steal a thing without Taylor noticing.

Then from the "front room" area, she saw the back of Taylor's head as he sat on the couch. He didn't turn or make a sound of acknowledgement when she entered and it pissed her off. She approached him, now starting to feel little tendrils of fear curl up her belly. When she got directly behind the couch, she saw what was distracting him.

There was a mass of blonde hair over his crotch making sucking and pleasurable whimpering noises as it bobbed up and down. Maggie looked at Taylor who was dispassionately staring at the muted TV. He was obviously more entertained by the silent figures running about than the mouth around his cock.

"Taylor," Maggie said tonelessly. The girl's mouth popped off of his crotch and her perfectly made up face glared at Maggie. Maggie met the girl's glare without feeling and directed her conversation at Taylor, "We need to talk."

"I'm busy." He grumbled, sipping his beer.

"Not very." Maggie scoffed and she saw Taylor's mouth hitch up in the corner.

The blonde stood abruptly, show casing her bulbously fake body in a tiny outfit and teetering on four inch stilettos, "Listen bitch," Very Jersey, "Get outta here before I bust'ya head. He's mine now and he don't want nuthin' to do with you anymo'."

Maggie felt the beginning of a massive head ache if she listened to the high pitch keen of that stupid whore any longer, "Get out." She said without emotion.

"Oh yeah?" The girl laughed, smacking her lips, "Why don't'cha make me?" She giggled and looked down at Taylor, who was still just staring at the TV. The girl was pissed off that this guy had the nerve to bring her in here and promise her a great lay and then just let this bitch ruin all the fun.

However, the annoyance didn't last long because it was soon replaced by pain when Maggie grabbed the girl's bleach blonde roots and tugged at them. The girl squealed in pain for Taylor to help her, but he did nothing as Maggie dragged the skank across the floor, yipping and crying, and then tossed her out the front door which she promptly locked.

She turned, full of fury to go back over to Taylor and beat the living hell out of him, but he was already in front of her, the half empty bottle hanging from his hand.

"What the fuck do you want?" He growled, the empty look was back.

Maggie faltered slightly, terrified of this thing that replaced her old best friend. However she stood her ground and stared him down, "How could you..."

He was silent.

"No." Maggie corrected herself, "How _dare_ you assault my boyfriend! Who the fuck do you think you are? You can just come around and fuck with my life as much as you want? Taking, taking, taking until there's nothing left of me? Is that was you fucking want?" She snarled.

He just chuckled, deep in his chest, "He came to me."

"Yeah but I know you threw the first punch, you fucking slime-ball!" She yelled.

"I don't need to listen to this. Get the fuck out."

Maggie took a few steps towards him, "Oh no Taylor Reese, you don't get to kick _me_ out, you piece of shit! How da-,"

"GET THE FUCK OUT!" He finally bellowed. That halted Maggie who stood there, dumbstruck, at a loss for words. "I don't need to listen to this shit anymore." Taylor growled. "I don't care about you fucking that piece of shit and I don't care about _you._" The last word was said with such vehemence that it knocked Maggie back. Seeing the pained look on her face, he continued, "So what? Because I fucked you I have to love you? News flash, Maggie, you ain't my type. I fucked you because I wanted to, not because there was some grand plan for us to be together. So get the fuck over it." He snarled right back watching as she became smaller and smaller. "I don't care about you. All you were is a lay to me," He growled, "Just a lay and some stupid bitch that couldn't make any real friends at school so all she could do was fuck around with a bunch of guys who wanted nothing more to fuck her and drop her."

"The guys care about me," She said weakly.

Taylor just laughed menacingly, "So what if they do? The slut only fucked the one who got her really hot. Isn't that right? None of them made your pussy wet like I did, did they?" He was silent, "DID THEY?" He shouted and threw his beer bottle at the wall just a few feet right of her head.

Maggie was shaking and the crash of the bottle caused her to shriek. She looked back over at Taylor and couldn't stop the tears from falling down. He had closed the space between them in the time it took for the bottle to fly, crash into the wall, and slide down. When she looked back up, he was towering above her and for a moment Maggie actually feared for her life.

This utter blackness was behind his eyes. This blackness was not something she had ever seen in him or anyone before.

She assumed it was the same look as when a lion pulls down a zebra and goes for the jugular.

She swallowed back her sob and met his gaze, though not in defiance, but rather more like a deer in the headlights.

All of these animal analogies were starting to make her head swim, along with the ripples of emotion rolling off of her and Taylor, when he suddenly grabbed her shoulders and lifted her to his full height, her feet dangling off of the ground.

He was staring at her, his big black eyes and his smile tight and closed lipped. He looked like a shark. Maggie shuddered in his hands.

"Did they, sweet Maggie?" He grumbled.

"T-T-T-T-Taylor, put me down." Maggie said meekly.

He put his mouth to her ear and whispered huskily, "Are you scared?" He smiled feeling the ripple in her body. As much as Maggie should have felt scared, Taylor could say just about anything in that baritone voice and make your toes curl. But the affect quickly wore off when he spoke again, "Or are you hot for me?"

"Please?" She squeaked.

"No." He said curtly and crashed his lips onto hers. His teeth nipped at her mouth and tongue and his body pressed her against the wall to free his hands. Her fear was delicious and he could tell that some part of her was still aroused.

Maggie couldn't shake the feeling of dread coursing through her veins. She was pushing up against him, but she felt that with every push against him, he just put more of his weight onto her. She was whining in protest against his mouth, but it was extremely complicated to get anything coherent out. It was also impossible to forget that despite Taylor suddenly turning into the Prince of Darkness, he was also still an amazing kisser.

She felt his hands go up underneath her shirt and thats when Maggie was brought back to reality.

She loved Arthur.

She loved Taylor.

But not _this_ Taylor.

Who _was_ this guy?

She squirmed a bit more, feeling his erection press through her and the fear began to grow. She managed to get one of her legs between his so she did the only thing a girl can do when being over powered by a man more than twice her size. She drove the knee home, only hard enough to incapacitate Taylor, not enough to damage anything.

He gasped when her knee connected and he stepped back, letting her fall to the ground, her body landing in the bits of broken glass and beer with a thud. Maggie screamed again, feeling the tiny bits dig into her uncovered skin. Taylor stumbled backwards and dropped to his knees, growling in anger deep in chest.

Maggie feared what would come next. She was a bit dazed because of whatever the fuck was happening plus she was covered with blood. The glass didn't hit anything major, but it sure as hell hurt and it made a fucking mess.

When it looked like Taylor started regaining some function, Maggie tried to regain composure and stand up, but it was hard. Her legs and arms felt like they had no solid bones in them and her head was spinning from her life.

Just then the door slammed open and Maggie looked up to see Matty in the doorway. "Oh what the fuck?" He said, sounding almost frantic. "Taylor, what the fuck is wrong?" He said, watching Taylor try to stand up without wincing. He turned and saw Maggie.

Now in all of Maggie's years, Matty had always been rather pale, but when he saw her, in what Maggie presumed to be one of the worst situations ever, he absolutely blanched and almost went transparent.

"Jesus Maggie we need to call an ambulance!" Matty yelled and dropped to her side and pulled out his phone.

"I'm ok." She said softly. She looked up at Taylor who was leaning against the wall, still trying to get his breath back. "Nothing bad, just a bunch of superficial cuts. They'll have to dig a bunch out of me, but nothing major." She smiled weakly.

"I'm calling an ambulance." Matty growled punching in the number and while it rang he glared over at Taylor who was starting to regain color.

Matty communicated with the EMTs who got Maggie trussed up and carted off to the hospital to await a doctor who could pluck out all the itty bitty pieces of glass embedded in her skin. As they carefully walked her away and got her secured in the back of the ambulance, Matty turned back and walked over to Taylor.

Taylor saw the look on Matty's face and scowled right back, "I'm not in the mood Matty." Taylor growled.

Matty back-handed him as hard as he could possibly manage, "Taylor, you're my brother, but thats my sister in there. And right now..." He stared at Taylor's seemingly calm face and shook his head with a deep resentment, "Right now, you don't even deserve to be punched like a man." He spat and walked away.

Taylor was left with nothing but his anger and literally, though not the first time, blood on the walls.


	10. Chapter 9

Wow...so many things happened in the past however long ago I was writing this story. I'm trying to pick it back up again and complete the story so I can feel some closure for the characters...Does anyone even care? Its been so long I'm not sure anyone actually remembers this story at all...Let me know if you are or are not interested...Let me know if I've seriously deviated from the feeling of the original story...The fact is, I really want to finish it, I care about the characters and still remember my original plotline, but if it blows, I don't want to make anyone suffer through my horrible writing. Lol. Thanks everyone who read and reviewed. I hope that I can complete this without ruining everyone's expectations. But really, thanks for actually caring about it if you read it. I'm sorry it took me so long to actually post something...Things got crazy...like I dont even know where to start... So hopefully I can please some people :D

* * *

**-9-**

Always the doctors with their questions.

Of course, if Maggie had been in their position, seeing a small woman come in here, looking battered and shaking despite the weak smile on her face, she would have kept asking questions too.

"What happened?" The voice was the same as the other voices swirling in her head. Well, except for the one. The one that had screamed at her, with such hatred and emptiness, with such distaste, the one that accompanied those empty, black eyes. The voice that belonged to Taylor stood out amongst the rest. Calling her a cunt. Saying she was just a lay. That he didn't care about her. Despite her previous resolute decision to no longer cry or hurt for Taylor Reese, the words, the looks, that kiss – they stung.

"It was an accident." She gulped back the pain as he plucked chunks of glass from her arm. "Dropped a plate and it scared the living hell out of me, I ended up slipping and landing in the glass."

He looked at Maggie suspiciously, but she just smiled lamely. The empty gesture didn't touch her eyes and was barely visible on her lips. "How did your friend find you?"

Matty. He was her friend. Not Taylor. The thought shook her to her core and she decided that whoever that was that did this to her was not Taylor Reese. "He was in the other room. We were getting ready to watch a movie. Relax a little." She frowned at herself, eyes staring off into the distance. She could usually lie pretty well the time called for it, but right now, her voice was toneless. She didn't even want to look up at the doctor. She didn't care and it broke her heart – at least, she knew it should be breaking…

"All right, well I'm almost done here," the doctor muttered. "I'll give you some topical cream that will help with healing. Luckily none of these are really deep, so just basic gauze and some wrappings will do. My nurse will give you all of that when you are prepared to leave," She felt him put his hand on her shoulder and Maggie flinched out of surprised, but the grimace on her face was because of her own weakness. He retracted his hand quickly, "Please," he said gently, "Take your time."

Maggie nodded, biting her lower lip. Her thoughts were streaming at a mile a minute. The past day just couldn't have been possible. After such a wonderful day and night with Arthur to have it all just destroyed by a simple act. The fact that she had given herself to Arthur was tarnished by this event with Taylor and she hated it. She hated herself for loving such a monster and letting him rule her life. She was an idiot. And Taylor…Taylor – HER Taylor – had almost raped her. She shook the thought away automatically but her lungs froze in her chest. That wasn't possible, right? _He couldn't have done it, not to me_, she thought absentmindedly. A sob jumped in her chest and the realization of what just happened truly came crashing down on her so she let herself cry as hard as she needed to.

In the midst of her sob fest she did not hear the door open or the footsteps as someone approached her. When she felt the arms wrap around her, her surprise and instincts told her to fight back. She pushed back and took a swing, only barely missing Matty's jaw as he ducked out of the way. When she looked up at him, taking a few seconds away from crying as her adrenaline pumped through her system, his eyes softened and the corner of his lip hitched ever so slightly. That simple gesture sent waves of remorse through her body and she let out a pathetic wail and she dove into Matty's chest and cried her eyes out a little bit more.

Poor Matty had never signed up for this type of thing, but he handled it gracefully. Maggie was the closest thing he knew to be like a sister, but moreso. He loved her with such ferocity that as she cried, he could almost feel the ice breaking away from his own heart as a lump seemed to form in his throat. He held her tighter and pressed his lips against the top of her head while her face was buried into his chest, her fingers gripping at the lapels of his very expensive suit. He didn't know what had just happened, but he could image it. First seeing Taylor on his knees, actually in pain, caused Matty to panic, which didn't happen often. But turning to see Maggie cowering on the ground, covered in blood had stopped his heart. The first few seconds of assessing the situation probably caused a stroke. Seeing her in pain was absolutely unbearable. When he'd gotten to her and helped her up and called the ambulance, she had been shaking, her eyes completely vacant, vacuous as she stared at nothing. Once he handed her off and went back to Taylor, the fury he felt for the man he considered his brother was so intense it was painful. It took all of Matty's control to not shoot Taylor in the knee, despite how much Matty thought he deserved it. Certain people deserved to get their asses kicked or get dead and Matty had no qualms when it came to them, but he had standards. He had rules firmly stated in his mind that he believed Taylor stood by. When he saw what happened to Maggie and thinking that Taylor had something to do with it, it absolutely boiled Matty's blood. He didn't want to lose his brother and one of the only girls he'd ever really loved all in the same fight. He couldn't bear it. He shook himself out of his thoughts and realized that Maggie had stopped crying so heavily. Her breathing was still uneven, but the gut wrenching sobs had died down. He wanted to look down at her and see if she had fallen asleep, but she spoke before he could check.

"I'm sorry about your suit." She whispered.

The piteous statement and the mouse-like quality of her voice hacked away at Matty. The absurdity of the statement itself made him want to laugh, but the way she said it made something prickle behind his eyes lids. "Oh, this old thing?" He said, trying to be nonchalant, but his voice was thick, "You don't need to worry about this old thing," He smiled weakly. A few more seconds passed by in silence as her breathing evened a little more. "Where's Arthur?" He finally asked.

Maggie scoffed at the question, "I gave him some vicodin for the injuries T-," She paused at the word, not remembering a feeling of such overwhelming sadness when she would say or think his name, "For the injuries he got. He passed out."

"Pussy." Matty said jokingly and he felt Maggie's shoulders jump from a tiny laugh. "Why don't you let me take you home?" He muttered into the top of her head.

She slowly pushed him away and looked up at him. The vibrant eyes seemed dulled and her skin was no longer flush with the adrenaline rush, but pallid and pale. It seemed as though the life had been sucked out of her and she was just a shell. "That would be nice." She said and smiled weakly.

Matty smiled as he helped her get up off the hospital gurney. He helped her get all the necessary supplies to take care of the numerous cuts and scratches on her arms and face. She seemed invisible as she walked beside him. She was completely dazed by whatever Taylor had done. He was staring at her with concern when she looked up at him sharply and shot him another smile. Matty smiled back, but in that moment he realized that he hated that smile. It wasn't like how they used to be. This one was small, bitter…Forced.

After Matty had stormed off, Taylor had gone back into his home and stared at the glass shards on the flood surrounded by specks of blood that he knew were Maggie's. He wiped a big hand over his face, trying to focus himself on something, but he just felt empty. He stared at the shards of glass for a few more moments, willing his face to stay stone cold and attempting to wipe the memory from his mind. He wandered into his kitchen and went under his sink to grab some paper towels and a dustpan. Always prepared with blood-removing cleaners, he tidied up the mess and went back to what he was doing before this whole debacle. He sat on the couch and flipped the sound to his TV on. As the figures danced across the screen and sounds flooded his ears, thoughts kept trying to creep into his mind, but he shoved them forcefully out. Matty was furious with him which had never happened before. The hit, which wasn't as hard as Taylor was used to being hit, still stung on his cheek and left a bad taste in his mouth. He almost wanted to charge at Matty, dare him to fight Taylor because Taylor knew he could win. With what Matty had said, Taylor understood that hitting Taylor wasn't meant to start a fight, but meant to put Taylor in his place. The bitterness crept back into his system and he flexed the muscles in his hands.

He honestly didn't know what to feel at the moment. Matty's disappointment was like a knife in his side. The reproachful look that Matty had on his face made Taylor furious at himself for acting so irresponsibly. He had been drinking. He looked down to the beer on his coffee table and shook his head. He'd need to get back to what he used to be. As much as he'd like to think he was so self-reliant, he'd never lived a day without Matty by his side. He didn't want to know what that was like and he knew he had promises to keep. He truly cared about few people in this world – Marbles and Chris were friends, but not nearly as important as Matty and…

He sat back slowly, staring at the screen, but his vision blurred as thoughts kept assaulting him. Maggie. He tried to shake his head to dispel the thoughts of her. The taste of her mouth, the feeling of her burning skin beneath his fingertips – he dropped his head into his hands and scratched his dragged them across the skin of his head and face – the absolute horror in her eyes.

What had he done?

Matty dropped Maggie off in her home and she gave him a curt, quiet goodbye. She didn't want questions, she didn't want comfort, she just wanted to be left alone. When she got inside she walked strait into her room, forgetting that Arthur was still passed out on her couch. She grabbed a thick long-sleeved shirt and some sweat pants to cover up the worst of the damage and went into her bathroom. When she turned on the lights and saw herself in the mirror she gasped. This wasn't going to be easy to hide.

Her face had some scratches on it, though they were minimal and would heal quickly. She regretted the fact, but knew she had to change, and began removing her clothing. The bandages were easily visible and hid all of the worst cuts, but what wasn't covered were the giant bruises already forming on her upper arms and on her knees. The bruises on her arms were probably the most shocking. The front of her shoulders had bruises that were large and almost crescent shaped, spindly on the side, and dark ovalesque patterns on her back. After staring at them for a few seconds, it finally dawned on her that they were the precise size and shape of Taylor's hands. The thought of him being any way imprinted on her body brought back tears, but they were quiet, hopeless tears. He had been such a part of her for so long that she couldn't imagine life without him. She dropped her head and saw the damage done to her legs. Mostly impact bruises from when she dropped and collapsed onto the floor and was covered in bits of glass. She sighed, taking a deep breath and collected herself. She pulled on her clothes, washed her face, and left the bathroom.

When she walked into her front room she gasped lightly when she saw Arthur on the couch. He was laying down across the couch looking quite pathetic all gauzed up. She chuckled slightly realizing that she couldn't look much better after a night of no sleep and what she'd just gone through with Taylor. She shook her head to dispel the memories. She was so stupid, she couldn't believe that she would.

_No_, she thought. _No, it's done. It was stupid but it's done. Appreciate what you have. Not what's haunting you._ She looked back up to the drooling Arthur and smiled. She felt some warmth return to her body and her face and she went over to the couch and sat down by his head. She curled her body around him and stroked his face. She kissed him softly on the cheek and made herself comfortable. She stared at his slack features, trying not to laugh and she closed her eyes softly, finding comfort and solace in warmth and his scent. It did not grasp her wholly, thrusting itself into her soul and forcing her to do its bidding. It cradled her gently, tenderly, easing her to sleep. For the first time in all her life, Maggie did not just feel protected, she felt _safe_.


End file.
